THE 


| WITNESS | 


OF 


ISRAEL 


cage ee tae 


| WILFRID J. | 
MOULTON, M.A.) 





SND NM ETT TLL OED ATR ATI NTN 





K 
“a 
BY 


7 








The 39th Fernley Lecture 


THE WITNESS OF 
ISRAEL 


BY 


WILFRID J. MOULTON, M.A. 


TUTOR IN OLD TESTAMENT LANGUAGES AND 
LITERATURE, HEADINGLEY COLLEGE, LEEDS 


NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI; JENNINGS & GRAHAM 





PREFATORY NOTE 


THE Lecture as delivered was made up of extracts 
from various parts of the book. 

For valuable help in the reading of the proof- 
sheets I am greatly indebted to my friends the Rev. 
J. Hope Moulton, D.D., of Didsbury, and the Rev. J. 
Anderson Dawson, of Newton Stewart. 


W. J. M. 





CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 


BOOK I 
PREPARATION 


CHAPTER 
I. Basyionia 


II. Tue Patriarcnat PeRiop . 
Ill. Ecyrr anp THE Work or Moses 
ey 


PaLEsTINE AND ITS INFLUENOES 


BOOK II 
ANTICIPATION 


I. Tse Beeinnines oF PRoPpHEcY 
II. THe Comine oF THE ASSYRIANS . 
Ill. Tue Ace or Manasseu 
IV. Tue Ace or JEREMIAH 
V. PRopwets oF THE EXILE 
VI. PropHets oF THE RETURN 
VII. THe Comine oF THE GREEKS 
VIII. Tue Ace or THE MaccaBees 


PAGE 


37 
58 


81 
101 
117 
132 
159 
187 
211 
226 


vi 


IT. 


Contents 


BOOK III 
REALIZATION 


INTRODUCTION 
Ovr Lorp’s Witness To HIMSELF 
Tue Apostolic WITNESS 


Tur Horr oF THE FUTURE. 


PAGE 


257 


. 259 


276 
302 


INTRODUCTION 


John Wesley on the Bible—Modern perplexity created by (a) 
Archaeology, (6) Comparative religion, (c) Historical criticism 
—Acceptance of these results and interpretation of them 
two different things—Two illustrations of unsatisfactory in- 
terpretation: (a) by Marti; (6) by Winckler—Two ways of 
meeting these interpretations—Dr. Orr challenges the critical 
results—The better path to frankly accept them, but to seek 
a different interpretation of them—So the essential core of 
Wesley’s words may still be retained. 


NE of the noblest passages in all John Wesley’s 
writings is that in which he calls himself 
‘a man of one book.’ He writes— 


I have thonght, I am a creature of a day, passing 
through life as an arrow through the air. Iam a spirit 
come from God, and returning to God: just hovering 
over the great gulf; till, a few moments hence, I am no 
more seen ; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want 
to know one thing—the way to heaven; how to land safe 
on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to 
teach the way: for this very end He came from heaven. 
He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! 
At any price, give me the book of God! I have it; here 
is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. 
Here, then, I am, far from the busy ways of men. [I sit 


viii Introduction 


down alone: only God is here. In His presence I open, 
I read His book ; for this end, to find the way to heaven.’ 


The Christian believer of the present day must 
often ask whether he can still make those words his 
own. Bewildered by the differing voices that reach 
his ears from every side, some bidding him at all cost 
hold fast in all its details to the faith of his childhood, 
others commanding him in the sacred name of truth 
to give up much of what he counts most precious, he 
misses the calm, clear note of authority that Wesley 
heard, and would fain be back again in the simpler 
ages of unquestioning trust. 

In relation to the Bible, there are three main 
sources from which the new ideas proceed which call 
so loudly for interpretation—Archaeology, Comparative 
Religion, and Historical Criticism. 

1. Archaeology has forced us to rewrite the early 
history of civilized man. Once it was possible to read 
the Old Testament, and to think that the oldest records 
of the human race lay before us. The boast of Josephus 
against the Greek historians that all other writings 
were but of yesterday as compared with the imme- 
morial age of the Scriptures seemed unchallengeably 
true. The giant figures of the patriarchs towered aloft 
in lonely grandeur. In their simple nomad life men 
saw the first beginnings of civilization, and traced to 
their experiences the sacred institutions that made the 


1 Preface to Sermons. 


Introduction ix 


Israel of later days. Now all is changed. Abraham 
stands only midway between the first civilization that 
we know and the coming of Christ. The code of a great 
lawgiver, living as far behind the time of Moses as the 
age of Alfred the Great is behind us, speaks of the 
complex laws of property and public and private duty 
that are the surest signs of a long-established state. 
Behind this king there stretches back a long line of 
rulers and priests pointing to periods far more remote 
than the historians of half a century ago ever recog- 
nized. Innumerable parallels to the morning stories 
of the Old Testament—the Creation, the Deluge —have 
been found on tablets of baked clay and cylinders, 
or on blocks of stone, that have lain hidden for 
millenniums. How stands it with the Bible in this 
new light? Some adjustment of our views has become 
absolutely necessary. 

2. The same conclusion meets us when we turn to 
survey the widening field of knowledge opened out to 
us by Comparative Religion. From one point of view 
the results of this study are pure gain. It is being 
recognized more and more clearly that religion is a 
universal fact. As a recent writer puts it— 


Wherever the surging roar of life has been loudest, 
and wherever human life has been most profoundly 
moved in struggle and conflict, religion has been the 
cause.’ 


Whilst it is unhappily true that at present large 
1 Bousset, What is Religion ? p. 6. 


x Introduction 


sections of the people are separated from any outward 
expression of religion, and that the indifference of the 
masses is one of the great problems of the Churches, 
it is none the less a fact that in all the higher circles 
of thought there is a new interest in religion, and a 
deeper recognition of its rights and value. So Bousset 
says again: ‘ There never has been, and never will be, 
a civilization which is progressive and vital unaccom- 
panied by religion.’ Of great significance is the 
remark of the editor of the Religio-Historical Books 
for the People, a series which is being sold by scores 
of thousands in Germany, seeking to disseminate the 
views of advanced liberalism in theology. He says: 
‘To-day among the German people estrangement from 
religion is no longer received as “ progress.” Religion 
is again a vital problem for the people and its leaders.’ 
Similar conclusions can be drawn from the works of 
writers such as William James, who examine the 
phenomena of religion from the standpoint of psy- 
chology, and demonstrate the right of the facts of 
religious experience to consideration and interpretation. 
Such writers, for the most part, recognize in the whole 
history of the religious life of mankind the handiwork 
of God; through all imperfect expressions and crude 
and barbarous institutions they seek to find the 
strivings of the human spirit in its ceaseless upward 
movement towards the divine Father of all. 

Modern missionary enterprise is permeated with 

1 Op. cit. p. 3. 


Introduction xi 


this spirit, and strives, by a sympathetic understanding 
of the stage to which other peoples have attained, to 
equip itself for the task of leading them up to higher 
levels. 

But while all this is solid gain, leaving behind for 
ever the arid materialism of a generation ago, it is 
manifest that the Christian apologist, who seeks to 
define the relation of his religion to the other religions 
of the world, has a new and complex task presented 
to him. Can we still draw the old distinction 
between the one religion of revelation and all other 
religions of nature? Can we be loyal to truth and 
yet at the same time claim that in the Bible we have 
a unique revelation of God, that still there is none 
other name to set beside that of Jesus, the Saviour of 
the world? It is manifest that here again we must 
be ready to state the grounds of our assured faith that 
this is still true. 

3. In the third place, Christian thought has to 
define its attitude to the results of Historical Criticism 
as applied to the books of the Bible. That criticism 
has proved, with overwhelming force, that some of the 
older views as to the way in which the sacred books 
were written were altogether defective. It has taken 
away the picture of the nation of Israel starting on its 
career endowed by Moses with a completely developed 
system of laws, adequate for all the needs of the future. 
Instead of that it has shown that, like the laws of 
other peoples, the laws of Israel grew with the life of 


xii Introduction 


the nation, and were supplied to meet each successive 
demand as it arose. Corresponding to the three main 
codes of law which it discovers in the Pentateuch, it is 
able to point to the three periods of history during 
which these codes were active. 

It shows first the time when in every Israelitish 
town and village there was a sanctuary to Jehovah, 
when Samuel went from place to place to offer sacrifice, 
when Elijah indignantly repaired the ruined altar on 
Mount Carmel. 

Then it shows Josiah, in his noble zeal for the 
purity of the religion of Jehovah, destroying all that 
were left of these very sanctuaries, and concentrating 
all the worship at Jerusalem. 

Finally it shows, corresponding to the latest priestly 
code of laws, the stately full-grown legalism of post- 
exilic days. 

Such results do not contradict a reasonable faith. 
They bring home the constant presence of God in the 
hife of the people. Once it was thought that God gave 
in one man’s lifetime all the laws that were needful 
for the many centuries of the nation’s life. Now we 
can see that it was not so. Step by step He walked 
with them. The supply of interpreters never failed 
who sought to express His will in each new crisis. If 
that be so, criticism shows that the life of Israel was 
fuller of God than was ever dreamed of before. It 
is plain that this result is in harmony with what we 
know of the general growth of nations. To understand 


Introduction xiii 


all the laws of England means to know the whole 
history of the country. Criticism says that the same 
is true of Israel. But it is clear once more that the 
bearing of all these facts upon the Christian faith calls 
for the most earnest consideration. 

It cannot, however, be too strongly urged that 
while we must loyally and honestly welcome all new 
knowledge, from whatever source it comes to us, we 
are in no sense bound to all the interpretations of this 
knowledge which are offered to us to-day. It is some- 
times forgotten that the history of institutions is not 
the history of ideas. Lord Acton’s weighty words 
should be remembered— 

The history of institutions is often a history of decep- 
tion and illusion; for their virtue depends on the ideas 
that produce and on the spirit that preserves them, and 
the form may remain unaltered when the substance has 
passed away.! 


To learn the historical sequence of the institutions 
of Israel, and to trace the analogies between them and 
those of other nations, is illuminating and valuable ; 
but we must not assume that when that has been done, 
the work of explaining the origin of its ideas is over. 

We may take two illustrations of what appear to 
be, in this way, defective interpretations of the ascer- 
tained facts, one from the side of historical criticism, 
and one from archaeology. 

(a) From the side of criticism Dr. Karl Marti, 

1 History of Freedom, p. 2. 


ts ae a es 


xiv Introduction 


after successfully editing a series of commentaries on 
the complete Old Testament, containing some of. the 
finest exegetical work of the last decade, proposes in 
his book, Zhe Religion of the Old Testament; its 
Place among the Religions of the Nearer East, to 
summarize the conclusions reached by himself and his 
fellow workers as to the incomparable value of the 
religion of Israel. This author discards altogether the 
traditional view as to the residence of the early 
ancestors of the people in Mesopotamia, and begins 
with a picture of a number of Bedouin tribes living in 
North Arabia and in the regions south of Palestine. 
The religion of these peoples may be best described as 
polydaemonism, i.e. the belief in a multitude of spiritual 
powers manifesting themselves in stones and trees, in 
springs and animals. Mount Sinai was the central 
place of assembly, and the common place of worship 
of different Semitic tribes who sojourned in the regions 
round it. The God of this mountain was called 
Jahweh (Jehovah), and was conceived as the God of 
the higher sphere, as the God of the air and storms, 
in distinction from the divine powers of the earth 
more properly so-called. Moses, living amongst these 
peoples, received a divine revelation that this God was 
the God of Israel, and had chosen Israel for His own 
people. Accordingly he went among some of the 
tribes which had migrated into Egypt, as the messenger 
of Jehovah, and led them out again to Sinai. There 
and at Kadesh he welded them with their kindred 


Introduction XV 


tribes into one people, united by a faith that was 
social and ethical in its spirit. By his emphasis on 
the one God who claimed Israel’s undivided allegiance, 
he thus laid the foundation of the whole magnificent 
structure of the Old Testament religion. From this 
starting-point Marti proceeds to sketch in turn the 
peasant religion, held by the Israelites on their first 
settlement in Canaan, the religion of the prophets, 
the religion of the law, and the fulfilment in Jesus. 

Whilst there are many strong and beautiful sayings 
in this book, it seems to fall far short as an explanation 
of the facts which it presents, and to be seriously 
defective both at the beginning and the end. It 
appears unwarrantable to cut away so completely the 
traditional stories of the patriarchs. Moses appears 
to need a far deeper background than is given to him 
here. Moreover, in ignoring the great religious move- 
ments in Babylonia, it begins so far down the stream 
of history as to miss the crowning Christian thought 
of the great purpose of redemption running through 
the whole life of man upon the earth. 

At the close of the exposition it is freely granted 
that all the various features of the prophetic ideal 
were concentrated in Jesus, and coalesced into one 
single harmonious whole, so that He realized perfectly 
the religion which the prophets taught. But there 
seems to be no room left for the doctrine of the Incar- 
nation, for the thought that all through the ages God 
had been preparing for that event, and at last, in the 


xvi Introduction 


fullness of the times, poured. out Himself in His Son. 
Hence the significance of the constant anticipation of 
the prophets of a brighter future is not firmly grasped, 
and Jesus becomes an Exemplar, but not in the full 
sense of the word the Redeemer of the world. We 
cannot rest content with such a statement as this. 

(0) Turning to the side of archaeology, we find 
Marti’s position very severely criticized by another 
author of great eminence, Dr. Hugo Winckler, one of 
the most famous Assyriologists now living. Winckler 
entirely rejects the suggestion that the religion of Israel 
developed from a nomad stage. Steeped in the know- 
ledge of the ancient records of Babylonia, he maintains 
that the teaching and civilization which streamed out 
from Mesopotamia had, long before the age of Moses, 
covered the whole world of the East. He bids us go 
back into the dim past, and become students there. 
To him the religion of the Bible is only that of a sect 
cut off from the great world-embracing culture and 
teaching of Babylon. It is there we must seek for all 
the roots of the great conceptions of the future. With 
great insistence be claims that no one who has not 
submitted himself to the discipline necessary to attain 
_ to this knowledge of the past, and read for himself its 
countless records, is fit to express a judgement on these 
matters. Winckler’s position is even less weleome to 
us than Marti’s. In one direction, it is true, his 
investigations are of great value. He appears to have 
proved that Babylon cannot possibly be ignored in any 


Introduction XVii 


account of the religion of Israel before Moses. But he 
repudiates altogether the thought of a chosen people 
and of a special revelation in its history. Quite apart, 
therefore, from his efforts to reduce to mythological 
figures many personalities whose real existence seems 
as certain as anything in human history, we find in his 
exposition no basis whatever for the Christian faith as 
we hold it. 

If, then, we reject these two representative in- 
terpretations of the facts before us, it is possible to 
move in either of two directions. Dr. Orr, in his 
Problem of the Old Testament, and other writings, 
attempts to refute scholars of the school of Marti by 
attacking the results of the literary analysis of the 
Bible. He appears to hold that there is a necessary 
connexion between these results and the theological 
views of some of those who profess them. In this he 
is surely not justified. No man is forced to decide 
between rejecting altogether the teaching of Evolution, 
or accepting the materialistic views of certain scientific 
writers. Nor does the fact that a Christian teacher 
accepts in the main Wellhausen’s dating of the 
component parts of the Pentateuch, compel him to 
believe in that scholar’s statement of a non-miraculous 


1 Winckler’s criticism of Marti’s book is contained in a pamphlet 
called Religionsgeschichtler und geschichtlicher Orient. His views 
in general are expressed in a multitude of writings of various 
kinds. A much more moderate statement of the same theory is 
found in the writings of Jeremias, whose chief work, Das Alte 
Testament im Lichte des Alien Orients, is referred to in the next 
chapter of this book, cited henceforth as ATAO. 


xviii Introduction 


Christianity. Whilst we most cordially recognize the 
great value of Dr. Orr’s theological writings, and owe 
much to their teaching, we are convinced, for reasons 
which are partially given in the course of this book, 
that in this instance his fire is misdirected. In their 
broad outlines the results of modern criticism have 
secured the allegiance of nearly all the scholars of all 
the Protestant Churches, and seem to be impregnable. 
The task of the future will be much more to interpret 
than disprove these results. 

We have, therefore, chosen in this book to take 
-another path. Accepting frankly and fully all that 
a reasonable criticism seems to demand, we desire to 
show that the claim of Israel to be a unique people 
with a unique mission can still be abundantly, and, in 
fact, the more clearly and rationally, justified. Be- 
lieving that history culminated in Jesus Christ, the 
Word of God, we wish to trace the formation of the 
people from whom He came, and to show how, through 
their eventful history, the hope of His coming was 
always being presented in many changing forms. We 
believe that the universal phenomena of religion afford 
a proof that God is everywhere, seeking to make men 
know and understand Him. Nature, with its signs of 
mysterious forces, has one message from Him; all the 
vague stirrings of moral thoughts and sentiments have 
another. Here and there great souls, in what we call 
heathen lands, have caught true messages from Him, 
and have partially understood Him. But there runs 


Introduction xix 


through human history one line, along which the 
clearest knowledge of God has come, and that line 
is the one which runs through the history of the 
people of Israel, and terminates in Jesus Christ. 
Changing the metaphor, we may say that a great 
river has many tributaries. They, too, rise up among 
the hills, and each as it enters the central stream 
makes it fuller and more fruitful. But we do not 
mistake the tributaries for the river. So it is in God’s 
revelation of Himself to man. The stream had its 
source far back in the remote past, beyond the keenest 
human vision. It flows, now rapid and stormy, now 
calm and broad, sometimes turbid, bearing with it 
- masses of soil from the banks between which it flows, 
fed here and there by smaller brooks and rivulets, 
pouring itself at last into the great deep. Israel’s 
religion is the river, the river of God bringing life 
wherever it goes, the only river broad and deep 
enough to fertilize the whole earth. Every true and 
high conception of duty or of God is a tributary meant 
to feed the great stream. But in the full sense of 
belonging to the central river the writings of the Bible 
stand alone, and have a special inspiration in which no 
other books in universal literature can share. If such 
a thesis can be maintained, we may continue to hold 
all that is essential in the quotation from Wesley, with 
which this chapter started, and own that to us, as to 
him, the Bible is still the Book of books. The present 
lecture is offered as a slight contribution to that proof. 


xx Introduction 


Believing that the meaning and interpretation of the 
acorn is found in the oak, of the bulb in the flower, we 
seek to demonstrate the value of the Scriptures by 
showing the actual wealth of their contents, and the 
goal towards which they tend. 

The book is divided into three sections— 

1. Preparation. A survey of the world of thought 
from which the founders of the nation of Israel came, 
and an account of the settlement of the people in 
Palestine, with some study of the essential and 
differentiating features of their ancestral faith. 

2. Anticipation. An exposition and discussion of 
the hopes for the future which filled the minds of the 
great teachers and prophets of Israel, as they were 
developed in Israel’s history. 

3. Realization. An examination of the way in 
which these hopes have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 


BOOK I 
PREPARATION 





CHAPTER I 
BABYLONIA 


Early conditions and history of Babylonia—Sumerian and Semitic 
populations—Babylon becomes centre of a kingdom—Place of 
religion in public life—Spread of Babylonian culture—Impor- 
tance of this fact—Religion considered under three aspects: 
(a) Astral view of the universe. World-Ages. Tendencies 
towards monotheism. (6) Exaltation of deities of important 
towns. [Illustration from Marduk of Babylon. Monotheistic 
tendencies here. (c) Expressions of personal religion. The 
Penitential Psalms. Contrast with Bible teaching. In all, 
absence of the conception of God as a Person, A system of 
thought in travail. Need of a great creative personality, 


ETWEEN the Tigris and the Euphrates lies 
B the land from which come our earliest written 
records of the human race. To-day for the 

most part it is barren and marshy. The two rivers, 


flowing between avenues of ruins, sweep away dykes, once 
reared to curb the power of these mighty streams, tear 
down their banks, once lined with palaces, riot at their 
will through channels made by their own irresistible waters, 
and bring with them the deposits of the mountain sides to 
enrich the soil of their deltas. 


But in the ancient times a splendid system of canals 
1 Goodspeed, History of the Babylonians and Assyrians, p. 12. 


4 The Witness of Israel 


carrying the waters to every field made the rich 
alluvial soil the most fertile in the world, Herodotus, 
after saying that this territory is of all that we know 
the best by far for producing grain, and speaking of 
the great size of the blades of wheat and barley, refrains 
from giving the measurements of the millet and sesame 
there grown, because he knows his readers will not 
believe him. It is easy, then, to understand why, 
millenniums before the age of Herodotus, the nomad 
tribes, pasturing their flocks in Arabia on the south, or 
on the steppes of Russia beyond the Caucasus on the 
west, or on the uplands of Asia on the north and east, 
cast longing eyes on this land of promise, and, driven 
on by hunger, pressed in to fight for its possession. 

The origin and history of the first inhabitants of 
this region lie far back in the distant past, too remote 
for us ever to hope to recover it. The ambition of 
modern discovery, despite all its marvels, must have 
its limits somewhere. But we are now able to speak 
definitely of a highly civilized - people settled there at __ 
least_as_early as 4000- -5000 B.c. This people, known _ 
as the Sumerian, were the inventors of that wonderful 


system of wedge-shaped or or cuneiform writing in which 
all the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions were 


composed. Their own language was preserved after 
the race had passed away, being used by the priests of 
later times for their religious texts. 


It enjoyed (says Winckler) the dignity accorded to 
Latin as the tongue of the learned and of the Church in 


Babylonia 5 


the Middle Ages and in more modern times, and main- 
tained itself in this réle for a period more than twice as 
long.? 

This ‘ oldest language of civilization’ remains as the 
chief witness of the stage of culture to which these 
predecessors of the Babylonians must have attained. 

The chief records from this region that we possess, 
whilst written in the wedge symbols, belong, however, 
to the Semitic group of languages. The term ‘Semite” 
springs from the division of the peoples given in the 
tenth chapter of Genesis, and signifies properly descent 

“from Shem. The distribution of peoples there made 
seems to be given with reference to political history 
and civilization rather than language. Certainly the 
Canaanites, judged by their speech, were closely allied 
to the Hebrews, and widely separated from the descen- 
dants of Ham. But it is enough for our purpose to 
understand by the Semites the chief inhabitants of 
South-west Asia, who came, in ‘all probability, from a 
~— At the earliest period to which our present records 
reach, this country appears to have been divided into 
a large number of city-states. The names of some of 
these cities—Eridu, Schirpurla, Nippur, Ur, Larsa, 
in the south; Kisch, Agade, Sippar, and Babylon, 
in the north—have been preserved. Which of these 
was the oldest cannot yet be determined. Their 
history, so far as we can trace it, consisted in a series 
1 History of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 12. 





6 The Witness of Israel 


of struggles for supremacy, the rulers of one city 
exercising from time to time a suzerainty over others. 
Some of the names of these ancient kings have sur- 
vived. In the famous city of Ur, so familiar to Bible 
students as the home of Abraham, it is possible to trace 
a succession of four different dynasties, extending from 
about 3900 to 2600 B.c. At last, about 2000 B.c.,! the 
rulers of Babylon succeeded in establishing their 
supremacy, and in uniting North and South under one 
rule. The sixth king of this dynasty was the well- 
known Hammurabi, the lawgiver whose recently dis- 
covered code sheds so much light upon the social 
conditions of his period. Long before his time the 
culture of the Euphrates valley had been developed. 
Mighty temples, boasting already an antiquity of many 
centuries, stood proudly in the cities; giant blocks of 
stone, quarried in many lands, had been shaped into 
statues by artists who would take high rank even 
to-day ; a carefully organized priesthood directed the 
ritual and sought to control the life of the people; the 
system of writing in use had already reached its last 
stage of development. Babylon became the heir of a 
great past, without itself contributing much that was 
new. But as Jastrow, from whom the preceding 
sentences have been largely drawn, says— 


With him (Hammurabi) begins a new epoch of history. 


1 Mr. L, W. King in his Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian 
Kings seems to prove decisively that Hammurabi’s date has been put 
too early by most writers, and that he was reigning about 1950 B.c, 


Babylonia 7 


Henceforth the supremacy of Babylon remains undisputed, 
and the other old centres, after the loss of their political 
power, retained a certain importance only through their 
sanctuaries, to which pilgrimages were made as before, and 
through their commercial activity, which, with the union 
of the different Babylonian districts, now became more 
vigorous.’ 

All the records of these two thousand years are 
permeated with religion. Religion was the mainspring 
of intellectual activity ; literature centred round the 
temples; priests were the leaders in all departments 
of thought. It is therefore of supreme interest for us 
to inquire how far these earliest teachers received 
‘authentic tidings of invisible things,’ how far there 
was in the world even then a praeparatio evangelica. 

In the first place, it must be observed that the 
influence of the systems of thought that arose in the 
Euphrates valley extended far beyond Western Asia. 
One of the most enthusiastic students of these records 
claims that behind them there lies a conception of the 
universe, and a teaching corresponding thereto, which 
spread out over Egypt and Arabia, over Persia, China, 
India, Mexico, over Greece and Spain, and les at the 
roots of the myths and legends which meet us in those 
lands. 

This teaching inquires after the origin of things, and 
comprises the coming into being of the universe from the 
first beginnings out of a chaos into the present world, and 
its further development in future ages up to the renewing 

1 Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, p. 37. 


8 The Witness of Israel 


of the world. It is essentially a religious doctrine, and that 
in the sense of a latent monotheism. Its characteristic is 
the expectation of adeliverer going forth from the Godhead, 
who in the course of ages overcomes the powers of darkness.’ 


So sweeping a conclusion cannot be said to be 
warranted by the evidence before us. It is, at least, 
arguable that the similarities in the myths of such 
widely separated peoples can be accounted for more 
naturally by explaining them as the outward expression 
of elemental desires and needs common to man every- 
where.? But the striking fact that, as late as the 
15th century B.c., the kings of Egypt corresponded 
with their vassals in Canaan in Babylonian script and 
language, shows how widespread the influence of the 
Euphrates lands was. To-day, Western Asia is governed 
by the conceptions of Islam; its intellectual and 
religious life lies altogether under the rule of the 
" Ptophet. It is not too o much to say that in the age 
of Abraham, and long afterwards, ‘Babylon was the 
world’s spiritual centre ntre, just as Rome was in the eyes 
of a monk of the Middle Ages. Consequences of the 
utmost importance result from such a statement. The 
often-painted picture of the ancestors of the Hebrew 
people as rough Bedouins of the desert, with crude 
animistic, religious ideas, from which gradually the 
purer teaching of the prophets emerged, begins to fade, 
It belongs to the days before the voice of the ancient 


1 Jeremias, ATAO, p. 5. 
? Cf. Oesterley, Evolution of the Messianic Idea, 


Babylonia 9 


Kast had been understood, and is out of date. Before 
it can be repainted, the deeper faith which underlies 
the phenomena now brought to light, just as the 
Arab’s faith in one God lies underneath his supersti- 
tious terror of demons and jinns, must be considered 
and understood. 
As we turn and consider the religious texts that 
archaeology has now translated for us, the first impres- 
sion is one of hopeless confusion. Gods of the sky, 
gods of the earth, gods of the deep, families of gods— 
fathers and mothers, sons and daughters—local gods 
of cities and hills, gods directing and involved in all 
the processes of nature, confront and bewilder us. The 
whole effect is that of a crass polytheism, full of 
degrading superstition. But as we look closer, there 
are two directions at least along which we can move 
with less confusion. The first is that of the considera- 
tion of the relation of the heavens and heavenly bodies 
to human life. The second is found in the tendency 
to raise to supreme rank the chief gods of a ruling 
city or state. (Qs. a+ 
(a) It is not easy for a modern town-dweller to © cA Buy 
realize how much the aspect of the skies meant to men © .7/) 
of former days. For us the gas-lamps have put out My 
the stars, and the average cultivated man of to-day is _ tnd 
all but entirely oblivious of the commonest appearances \— 
of the heavens. But it was far different with those-< Le 
who lived millenniums ago on the great plains of | /~ 
Babylonia. They had marked the fact that the sky : 


Vi 


Se 


a 


10 The Witness of Israel 


is crossed by a broad belt, called the zodiac, outside of 
which sun and moon and planets never stray. They 
had noted that each month as the moon rises the same 
girdle'of stars surrounds us in the great vault of heaven. 
Upon the zodiac they had marked the twelve constel- 
lations through which the sun passes month by month, 
the year beginning with the spring equinox. A 
; knowledge of these familiar signs of the zodiac can 
be traced back far behind the age of Hammurabi. 
One other fact had been observed which is of great 
significance. Owing to the gradual change that is 
going on in the direction of the earth’s axis, the sun 
does not rise from year to year in exactly the same 
place in the heavens. Seeing that this slow movement 
is completed in about 26,000 years, at the end of which 
the sun is in the same position again, it is plain that 
at the beginning of each twelfth part of this period 
—i.e, roughly speaking, every 2,200 years—the sun 
stands at the spring equinox in a fresh sign of the 
zodiac. Then began, according to the old astronomers, 
a new world-age. One such world-age began in the 
8th century B.c., and was marked in Babylon by the 
framers of the calendar, who began their dates afresh 
from that period. That was the age of the Ram, 
lasting till the 15th century of our era. According to 
this measure of time, we live to-day in the era of 
Pisces, the Fish. But in Babylonia our most ancient 
records take us back to the age of the Twins, whilst 
somewhere about 3700 B.c. the age of the Bull began. 


Babylonia 11 


It has been pointed out that that age began with the 
dynasty of Sargon I, the great conqueror who boasts 
that he led his armies westwards to the Mediterranean, 
and whose son styled himself ‘King of the Four 
(world-) Regions.’ 4 

Let us now look at the universe as conceived by 
these ancient thinkers. They looked far above them 
into the northern heavens, towards the pole star, and 
counted that part of the sky the first division. The 
zodiac formed the central division, and the southern 
depths the third. This threefold division was reflected 
on the earth itself by the air and sky, the solid earth, 
and the watery deeps. At the head of their pantheon 
the priests placed the famous triad of gods, Anu, Bel, 
and Ea—Anu, god of the northern sky; Ea, of the 
depths; Bel, of the zodiac. This same threefold 
division was repeated in the zodiac itself, where Moon, 
Sun, and Venus, the evening star, were seats of the 
deities Sin, Samas, Istar, Into the innumerable com- 
plexities into which the conceptions of these great gods 
and their relationships pass, it is not possible for us 
to enter. It must suffice for us to note that in the 
movements of these heavenly bodies men sought to 
trace out the divine will and the plan of human 
destiny. What concerns us most is the question how 
far the thought of one supreme God rose above this 


1 On this see the article by Jeremias on ‘Ages of the World,’ 
in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. i. Recent dis- 
cussions as to the age of these calculations do not appear to have 
shaken this writer’s position. 


The Witness of Israel 


confusion. The answer is not doubtful. Anu, repre- 
. sented as ‘the lofty God,’ designated as early as_ 
Hammurabi’s days simply <u, ‘god, seems almost te 


simup-it himself the attributes of deity. Bub he 


has no personality, and so remains a bare conception 
of speculative thought, immeasurably removed from 
the God of Israel. Sin, the moon-god, is worshipped 
in lofty strains. One of the old hymns may well be 
quoted as an illustration— 


Father, long-suffering and full of forgiveness, whose hand upholds 
the life of all mankind, 

Lord, thy divinity, like the far-off heaven, fills the wide sea 
with fear.... 

Firstborn, omnipotent, whose heart is immensity, and there is 
none who shall discern it.... 

Lord, the ordainer of the laws of heaven and earth, whose 
command may not be [broken]... 

In heaven who is supreme? ‘Thou alone, thou art supreme! 

On earth who is supreme? Thou alone, thou art supreme! 

As for thee, thy will is made known in heaven, and the angels 
bow their faces. 

As for thee, thy will is made known on earth, and the spirits 
below kiss the ground. 

As for thee, thy will is blown on high like the wind; the stall 
and the fold are quickened. 

As for thee, thy will is done on the earth, and the herb grows 
green.! 


One listens to such words, and realizes that, taken 
alone, they might serve to express the purest mono- 
theism. Yet such thoughts sink again into the abyss 
of polytheism. We see men who seemed to stand on 


1 Sayce, Gifford Lectures, p. 316, 


Babylonia 13 


the very threshold, one step from the true knowledge, . 
and yet by them that step was never taken. Vo pasAt 

(2) Turning now to the second line of unification 
‘we have indicated, we note that in the earliest times 
each village and town possessed its own god who cared i 
for its welfare— When one town overcame mie kh 
the god of the former was hailed as victor. The OY ss 
vanquished god might be forgotten, or pee as Oem 
servant of the conqueror, or treated as his son. Hence pos 
it was that in course of time many of the stories opr! 
family relationship arose. 

Such deities can be divided into two classes: 
(1) Those of purely local origin; (2) Those which 
were local in so far as they were attached to one 
definite place, but still, atthe same time, possessed a 
more general character as incorporations 0 of the powers 
of nature’ Ibis clearthat the second class is by far 
——= 
the most important, and that there, if anywhere, we 
must seek for the potency of higher developments of 
thought. 

As the best illustration of such tendencies we take 
the case of Marduk, the god of Babylon, This god v/) 7 ardut 
was originally a sun-god, ‘symbolizing more specifically 
the sun of the spring solstice, which triumphs over the 
storms of the winter.’ His name is first found with 
any certainty in Hammurabi’s inscriptions. This 
king counted himself the favourite of Marduk, and 
ascribes to him all his successes. Whenever he pays 


<< 


1 Cf, Jastrow, op. cit. p. 108, 


14 The Witness of Israel 


his dues in any sanctuary, he does not forget to aseribe 
honour to Marduk also, An important change in the 
theological thought of the day followed. 


Ancient myths were transformed so as to accord to 
Marduk the place due to him. Important acts, such as the 
regulation of the order of the universe, and the creation of 
mankind—hitherto ascribed to Bel of Nippur, to Ea of 
Eridu, or to a goddess Aruru—were transferred to Marduk. 
The incantation rituals were to a large extent altered, 
with a view to establishing the position of Marduk as the 
ultimate source of healing, of protection, and of all bless- 
ings. The gods were represented as forming a court around 
their chief, hailing Marduk as their leader, and paying him 
homage. The hymns composed in his honour, and the 
prayers addressed to him by the rulers, embody sentiments 
that might be regarded as an index of a decided advance 
towards a monotheistic conception of the Universe. 


How far did this advance reach? Perhaps the 
most striking instance is found on a tablet published 
by Dr. T. G. Pinches, where the name Marduk appears 
to be used as a general designation for godhead.? This 
tablet is late in date, but appears to be a copy of a far 
older inscription. Part of it reads— 


Ninip is Marduk of strength. 

Nergal is Marduk of battle. 

Bel is Marduk of lordship and dominion. 
Nebo is Marduk of wealth (or trading). 
Sin is Marduk the illuminator of the night. 
Samas is Marduk of decisions, &c. 


1 Hastings’ D.B. v. 545a., 2 Of, supra on Anu, p. 12. 


Babylonia 15 


Dr. Pinches remarks— 


We here get Marduk expressly identified with no less 
than thirteen other gods ; and as the tablet is broken, it is 
probable that he was, when the text was perfect, identified 
with at least as many more—in fact, these gods were all 
manifestations of Marduk, with reference to the various 
things named. This, in itself, is sufficiently remarkable, 
and may be regarded, it seems to me, as being at least an 
approach to monotheism. 

Jastrow doubts this conclusion, and says that such 
words are rather a witness of the attempt which 
accompanied the centralization of political power at 
Babylon to heap upon the head of Marduk all divine 
attributes.2 This was strengthened by the fact that 
Marduk appears represented as standing ona bull. In 
the ‘Age of the Bull’ this gave him a still further 
supremacy. 

But whatever political and astronomical con- 
siderations may have contributed to this elevation, 
we come in sight again of the same phenomenon which 
we have observed before. These thinkers have travelled 
along a path that seems destined to lead them toa true 
monotheism. But they never reached the goal. The 
last great king of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar, speaks in 
lofty tones of the greatness of Marduk, and prays to 
him— 

Cause me to love thy supreme rule. 
Implant the fear of thy divinity in my heart. 


1 Transactions of the Victoria Institute, vol, xxviii. pp. 10-11. 
? Op, cit. p. 203 n, 





¢ 


16 The Witness of Israel 


Grant to me whatsoever may seem good before thee, 
Since it is thou that dost control my life. 

But this does not prevent him from restoring the 
temple of Samas or praising Nebo as ‘overseer of the 
hosts of heaven and earth.’ 

We miss here altogether the exclusiveness that 
inheres in the biblical conception of God as a righteous 
Person. Speculation alone has never found ‘God. 
Even though it is said of Marduk that he is ‘The 
Creator of All,’ ‘The Exalted One in Heaven and the 
Mighty One on Earth, who is worthy ‘that his 
greatness should be proclaimed to the far-off peoples,’ 
yet this message would have conveyed only a name 
for the Supreme; it would not have disclosed a 
character. 

(c) If, then, the path of Babylonian speculation 


“ranches off into side tracks, is there any other path 
SY nat we can trace that might have led the traveller 





o the journey’s end? The one remaining direction 
in which we can look is that of personal experience; 
and the mass of cuneiform prayers and penitential 

salms that have been deciphered and published must 
guide us here. 

The first thought that arises from a reading of 
these records is that men itvei—i-fieee ys_in 
perpetual fear. Before them they saw constantly the 
danger, through some neglect of duty, some cere- 
monial failure, some positive transgression, of awaking 
the anger of a god and bringing heavy trouble on 








Babylonia 17 


themselves. The approach of an enemy, the failure 
of crops, bodily sickness, a thousand other mischances, 
went to show that some god was wroth with those 
concerned. Hence the division of the month into 
fortunate and unfortunate days, seeing that on some 
days the gods rested from their anger. Hence the 
mass of omen-formulae and incantations which accu- 
mulated at the temples and increased the importance 
of the priests. To many a man the whole world 
must have been ‘with dreadful faces thronged and 
fiery arms,’ and religion a burdensome load to ‘those 
who through fear of death were all their lifetime 
subject to bondage.’ 

But, we ask, were there not amongst all these 
writers loftier spirits, some of whom it may be said— 

Through such souls alone 
God stooping shows sufficient of His light a 
For us i’ the dark to rise by? 

Let us quote in evidence of this higher light from 
the most beautiful of these psalms, which, it is said, 
might be addressed ‘to any god ’— 

An offence against my god unknowingly have I committed; 
An offence against my goddess unknowingly have I wrought. 
O lord, my sins are many, my transgressions are great! 
O god, whom I know, know not, my sins are many, my trans- 
gressions are great! 
O goddess, whom I know, know not, my sins are many, my 
transgressions are great! 
The sin that I sinned I knew not, 


The transgression I committed I knew not, 
The offence that I wrought I knew not. 


SC kg Sas 
ie pe id 


18 . The Witness of Israel 


The lord in the wrath of his heart has regarded me, 

The god has visited me in the anger of his heart; 

The goddess has been violent against me, and has put me to 
grief. 


I sought for help, and none took my hand; 

I wept, and none stood at my side; 

I cried aloud, and there was none that heard me. 

I am in trouble and hiding, and dare not look up. 

To my god, the merciful one, I turn myself, I utter my prayer, 
The feet of my goddess I kiss and water with tears. 

To the god whom I know, know not, I utter my prayer. 


@ . . . . . e 


O lord, cast not away thy servant! 

Overflowing with tears, take him by the hand! 

The sins I have sinned, turn to a blessing; 

The transgressions I have committed may the wind carry away 

Strip off my manifold transgressions as a garment, 

O god whom I know, know not, seven times seven are my 
transgressions, forgive my sins! 

O goddess whom I know, know not, seven times seven are my 
transgressions, forgive my sins! 

Forgive my sins and let me humble myself before thee. 

May thy heart be appeased as the heart of a mother who has 
borne children ! 

May it be appeased as that of a mother who has borne children, 
as that of a father who has begotten them.! 


A still more pathetic strain is put into the mouth 
of a suffering king. He describes how he sought in 
vain for deliverance. Neither soothsayers, nor magi- 
cians, nor seers could give him help. He claims that 
he fulfilled all duties— 


1 Sayce, Gifford Lectures, pp. 419-21; Jeremias, Monotheistische 
Strémungen, pp. 37-8. 


Babylonia 19 


But I thought only of prayer and weeping, 
Prayer was my rule, sacrifice my principle, 
The day of god’s worship was my heart’s desire. 


I taught my land to keep the name of god, 

To glorify the name of the goddess I instructed my people, 
For I know that before god such is well-becoming. 

But what in itself seems good, that with god is evil, 

And what in itself is contemptible, that with god is good. 
Who understands the counsel of the gods in heaven? 

The plan of god, full of darkness, who established it? 
How should purblind men understand the way of god? 


The text ends with an expression of confidence— 
I know a time when my tears shall cease.! 


As we ponder such words we cannot miss their 
deep sincerity. Here are men ‘groping after God, if 
haply they may find Him.’ The use of the personal 
pronoun ‘my god,’ ‘my goddess,’ seems to suggest an 
intimacy of relationship. But it is plain that these 
seekers had not found the one God, in whose will is 
our peace. The expressions of penitence, as has been 
said, sound like parodies of such words as, ‘ Against 
Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which 
is evil in Thy sight. Baentsch comments on such mn 4A 
utterances— Neva 


/ 
This religion certainly had its psalmists, but it lacked 7 
the prophet who could lead the hearts that were thirsting 
after God from the labyrinth of polytheism into the recogni, |\ w\ : 
tion and adoration of the one God, in spirit and in truth? | "| — 
1 Translated from Schrader’s Die Keilinschriften und das Alte a 


Testament, pp. 385-7. 
? Altorientalischer und Israelitischer Monotheismus, p. 19. 


20 The Witness of Israel 


Similarly Jastrow writes— 


These prayers show us how strong pure love and 
dependence on the gods could be in Babylonia and Assyria, 
but even here it is always a question of some sort of desire 
of the king, usually for long life and happiness. In this 
direction the spiritualizing of the Babylonian religion very - 
soon found its limits. Without a complete transformation 
of its conception of the relation between deity and 
humanity it could not rise above a fixed point. Prayer 
in its higher form, as the result of an irresistible inward 
impulse without any kind of external after-thought, pro- 
ceeding simply from the longing to enter into closer 
fellowship with a higher power, would have required a 
radical revolution of the views about religion.? 


We come, therefore, for the third time to the same 
conclusion. In the desires of the pious, as in the 
national worship and the speculations about the 
universe, were tendencies that led towards the one 
true God. This whole great system of thought was in 
travail, groaning in pain together, But ‘the children 
are come to the birth and there is not strength to 
bring forth.’ Babylon never had the great creative 
personality who could stand over this chaos and say, 
‘Let there be light.’ If it be true that the influences 
of Babylon were so far-reaching, it may be that in 
the simpler pantheon of China traces of this old world 
are still existent. But to find how God at last taught 
man to know Him as He is, and prepared the path 
for a fuller revelation, we must turn elsewhere. 

1 Op. cit, ii. p. 139. 


CHAPTER II 
THE PATRIARCHAL PERIOD 


Abraham as the great creative personality—Wellhausen on the 
patriarchs—Difficulty of his position—The patriarchs as 
Canaanite heroes—Objections to this—Positive reasons for 
historical character of patriarchs—Common tradition of all 
the sources of Genesis—Archaeological considerations: (a) 
Changes wrought by accession of Hammurabi; (b) The four- 
teenth chapter of Genesis—Restatement of the Bible narrative 
—Its intrinsic credibility—Reflections of Babylonian customs 
—Simplicity of religious ideas and practices, contrast with 
Exodus—Conclusion in favour of Biblical tradition—Abraham 
as father of the faithful. 


T the head of the Bible history of the Hebrews 
A there stands a grand figure which is repre- 
sented as being the great creative personality 

for whom, though unconsciously, all the world was 
waiting. It is recorded there that in the heart of this 
ancient culture just described, at Ur and at Haran, 
two great seats of the worship of the moon-god, there 
lived a man to whom there came a clear call from God, 
and a true understanding of the divine nature. Driven 
on by this call, he wandered out from his home, took 
the great caravan route past Damascus to the south, 


22 The Witness of Israel 


and, in the freer conditions of life in Canaan, held 
communion with the Most High. 

The figures of Abraham and his successors have 
caused much perplexity to historians and critics. In 
the theory of the religion held by the Wellhausen 
school there is no room for them at all. As Wellhausen 
puts it— 

We attain to no historical knowledge of the patriarchs, 
but only of the time when the stories about them arose in 
the Israelite people; this later age is here unconsciously 


projected, in its inner and outward features, into hoar 
antiquity, and is reflected there like a glorified mirage. 


As it is impossible to regard Abraham as the name 
of a people, he is probably ‘a free creation of un- 
conscious art. He is, perhaps, the youngest figure in 
the company, and it was probably at a comparatively 
late period that he was put before Isaac. If it is 
objected to this, that these stories, on Wellhausen’s 
own theory, arose in the days of the Syrian wars, 
and reflect nothing less than the experiences of the 
Israelites in the eighth and ninth centuries, he 
replies— 

It is not difficult to understand that a people which 
found itself incessantly driven into war, not only dreamed 
of an eternal peace in the future, but also embodied the 
wishes of its heart in these peaceful forms of the golden 
age in the past.” 


1 Prolegomena to the History of Israel, pp. 319-20. 
2 Thid. p. 321. 


bad 


The Patriarchal Period 23 


This is a surprising turn for the argument to take, 
and is extremely unsatisfying. But apart from that, the 
very human experiences of the different patriarchs, 
whose portraits are painted with all the blots left on 
them, are as unlike ‘a glorified mirage’ as they well 
can be. There is little that is idyllic in Abraham’s 
adventures in Gerar (Gen. xx.), or Isaac’s in the same 
place, as recorded in chapter xxi, or in Jacob’s 
humiliating flight into Aram. Legend paints with a 
freer hand than this. 

At the present day the favourite theory is that 


Abraham is in origin a Canaanitish figure. When the . 





Israelites took possession of the land of Palestine they 
found stories of certain heroes clinging to some of the 
ancient sanctuaries. By adopting these heroes as their 
own ancestors they achieved a double end. In the 
first place they obtained some foundation for their 
claim to the land in the promises supposed to have 
been given by God to these ancient worthies, and in 
the second place they provided a sanction for their 
practice of worshipping Jehovah at these time-honoured 
shrines.} 

It must, however, be said that if this were the aim 
of these narratives it was very imperfectly realized. 
The patriarchs are never represented as having occu- 
pied more than a very limited portion of the land. 
Abraham lives mostly in the neighbourhood of Hebron 
and Beersheba, Isaac at Beersheba, Jacob at Shechem. 

1 So Stade, A. 7. Theologie, p. 64. 


( 


24 The Witness of Israel 


Abraham is always represented as a mere sojourner. 
He was obliged to acquire by purchase even a burying- 
place for his dead. Actual possession or rights he 
had none. His only claim was based upon the promise 
(ot God. 

None the less, critics of this school are unanimous 
that the life of the patriarchal period contributed 
nothing of importance to the religion of later days. 


a The undoubted traces of Babylonian influences in the 


Old Testament they consider to be later than the con- 
quest of Palestine. They reject as untrustworthy the 
tradition that the ancestors of Israel ever lived in 
Mesopotamia. Accordingly, they count of no impor- 
tance at all, at any rate till very much later, the 
subjects discussed in our last chapter. 

We must now proceed to consider the reasons we 
have for believing that these narratives do, on the 
contrary, contain sound historical reminiscences of the 
past. 

It must be observed, in the first place, that all 
three of the main strands of narrative in Genesis agree 
in describing Mesopotamia as the cradle of the race." 
Further, the whole story of Jacob’s flight to his kins- 
folk in Syria, together with the reference in Deut. 
xxvi. 5 to the ‘wandering Aramean,’ show how firm 
was the conviction that it was from the north, and_not 


from the south, that Israel’s ancestors ca: We have 


1 J. in Gen, xii, 1 ff.; E, in Joshua xxiy, ii, fi.; P, in Gen. 
xi, 31 fi, 


o 


The Patriarchal Period 25 


no right to put aside a deeply-rooted national memory 
like this except on altogether necessary grounds. At 
the time when, according to Stade, these legends were 
being shaped, Israel was in the throes of its life-and- 
death struggle with Syria. Can anything be more 
improbable than that these hated Syrians should be 
represented as Israel’s own closely related kinsmen, if 
loyalty to fact did not compel such a statement ? 
Passing onwards, it must be noted that a migration 
from Mesopotamia into Canaan at the time of the 
Hammurabi dynasty is in itself an extremely probable 
fact. Winckler argues that the accession of this 
dynasty meant great and revolutionary changes in the 
religion of Babylonia, which would be specially felt in 
Ur and Haran, the seats of the ancient moon-worship. 
Hence a resident in either of these places, desiring to 
find free scope for the practice of his religion, would 
turn most naturally to Canaan, where the influence of 
these new rulers would not yet reach. It may even _ 
be that the religious turmoil of such a time was the 
outward-factor which aroused in Abraham, regarded as 
a truly historical figure, his consciousness of God. At 
any rate, it is most significant that two places such as 
Ur and Haran, of which little knowledge could have 
been possessed in the days of the Israelite monarchy, 
should have been singled out as the original home of 
Abraham, and that these should have been just the two 
cities whence a new faith might have been expected. 





1 Abraham als Babylonier, pp. 25-6. 


26 The Witness of Israel 


If this is nothing but coincidence, it is surely a very 
remarkable one. 

Similar conclusions arise when we consider the 
famous fourteenth chapter of Genesis. A generation ago 
Noldeke declared that criticism had for ever disproved 
the historicityjof this chapter. According to Ed. Meyer 
it was the work of a Jew of the Exile, who, living in 
Babylon, had become acquainted with the oldest history 
of that country, and, for some reason unknown to us, 
had fitted into it the figure of Abraham. Later 
criticism attempts to separate different literary sources 
in the chapter, and expresses various opinions about 
their historical value. 

But meanwhile archaeology has been at work on 
the names of the chapter. It has been shown that 
Amraphel, king of Shinar, is the great Hammurabi of 
Babylon. In the early years of Hammurabi his throne 
was subject to Elam, and therefore his army would be 
controlled by the king of Elam. Arioch, king of Larsa 
(Ellasar), was son of an Elamite king. The Elamite 


a satisfying explanation of the statement that the 
Elamite king summoned help from his vassals, and 
sent.a force against his rebellious subjects in Palestine. 
Whilst, therefore, no mention has been found of this 
particular expedition, nor of any of the five kings 
named in vy. 2, nor of Abraham or Melchizedek, the 


1 Cf, Kent, Beginnings of Hebrew History, p. 8 


The Patriarchal Period 27 


narrative, in broad outline, fits in perfectly well with 
what we do know. That a sudden night attack on the 
rear of the » returning army might result in the re- 
capture of the prisoners and the spoil is perfectly 
credible. As to Melchizedek, it was argued by 
Wellhausen that he also is an artistic creation, a 
projection of the post-exilic high-priesthood into 
Abraham’s time. But it is, to say the least, extremely 
improbable that this later community, with its bitter 
hatred of the heathen, should have sought a prototype 
for its religious head among the Canaanites. On the 
other hand, we know from the Tel el-Amarna tablets 
that in the 15th century B.c. the king of Jerusalem 
took the leading place in Southern Canaan. In 
Joshua x. 1, Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heads a 
coalition against the Hebrews. It is at least possible 
that as far back as Hammurabi’s age the king of this 
city was recognized as a leader, and held in high 
honour. If so, we have an additional reason for the. 
later choice of Jerusalem as the seat of the monarchy. 
David and his successors claimed the old traditions of 
Jerusalem, even as Charles the Great was hailed as 
Roman Emperor, and became the heir of the Caesars. 
It is admittedly hard to draw definite conclusions 
from this chapter. Professor Sayce still holds strongly 
that cuneiform documents of the Hammurabi age lie 
behind the Hebrew text.2 He thinks it possible that 


1 So Gunkel, Genesis, pp. 252-3. 
2 Expository Times, vol. xvii. pp. 498 ff. 


28 The Witness of Israel 


the Hebrew translation was made about the age of 
David and Samuel. If so, it is unreasonable to refuse 
to believe that we have here a genuine historical 
recollection of a warlike exploit of the Hebrew 
patriarch, At any rate, the fact that the whole 
miliew of the chapter is true to history strongly 
confirms the belief in the general trustworthiness of 
the tradition. Whilst, therefore, it is possible that 
certain archaeologists have exaggerated the value of 
this chapter as a witness to Abraham’s real existence, 
it is fair to say that at least it adds distinctly to the 
cumulative force of the arguments we have adduced. 
It is in the light of such considerations that we must 
read what Dr. G. A. Smith says about the patriarchs. 
Speaking of the full and vivid pictures that archaeology 
now presents of Palestine during this period,—the 
constant passing of armies and embassies, the mountain 
keeps with their Egyptian garrisons, the cities on their 
mounds walled with broad bulwarks of brick and 
stone,—he adds— 

But amidst all that crowded life we peer in vain for 
any trace of the fathers of the Hebrews; we listen in vain 
for any mention of their names. This is the whole change 
archaeology has wrought : it has given us a background and 
an atmosphere for the stories of Genesis; it is unable to 
recall or to certify its heroes.? 


‘In reply to this, one is disposed to say that it would 
be most amazing if archaeology could do this. We 
1 Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the O. T., pp. 101-2. 


The Patriarchal Period 29 


ave not the smallest ground to expect it. In the 
classical Roman literature of the first century A.D. 
there is one uncertain reference to our Lord. Con- 
temporary history knows nothing of the birth of great 
spiritual forces. But the argument from such silence 
to the denial of the very existence of Jesus is one 
which we know how to stigmatize. Dr. G. A. Smith 
makes no such deduction in the case of Abraham. He 
admits the probability of a kernel of historical truth at 
the heart of these stories. But because of the fact, 
which we freely admit, that very much tribal history 
is told under the guise of personal experiences, that 
many of the individual names are names of tribes as 
well, that such an unpleasant story as that of Gen. 
XXXVill, is probably an account of the irregular 
marriages which members of the tribe of Judah 
contracted with the Canaanites of the Shephelah, and 
so on, he seems to minimize quite needlessly the actual 
importance of this historical core. It seems far more 
credible to see in Abraham a real historical figure than 
a creation of fancy. Archaeology shows the niche into 
which he can be fitted with great exactness. If it 
never does more than that, its service has been very 
great. 

It is often urged that history affords no illustration 
of a nation having sprung from a single family. It is 
not, however, necessary to treat Abraham as the only 
physical ancestor of the Hebrews. Certainly, in the 
account of the circumcision in chapter xvii, all the 


30 The Witness of Israel 6 


males in Abraham’s household submitted to this 
ceremony, and are therefore to be counted among his 
descendants. The nation grew, like others, from an 
amalgamation of families; but the faith of the first 
great ancestor was the uniting bond that held them 
together. Illustrations have been given in recent 
years from the reports of the Turkish Bureau of 
Statistics, showing how small are some of the Bedouin 
tribes that wander in the region east of the Sea of 
Galilee, their average number being only two hundred 
souls! For such a tribe accompanying Abraham there 
would be abundant room in Palestine. The existence 
of the Rechabites so many centuries later as a distinct 
tribe is an interesting illustration of such a possibility. 
Let us now seek to restate the Bible records a8 to 
Abraham’s call. Near the mouth of the Euphrates, 
now some miles west of the river in the desert, but 
formerly on the Persian Gulf, lay the city of Ur. 
To-day the ruins of the temple of Sin, the moon-god, 
rising seventy feet above the plain, bear witness to the 
ancient cult. On the upper reaches of the river, on 
the high-road from Babylon to the sea, lay Haran. 
Here also was a great temple of Sin, restored by 
Nabonidus in the 6th century B.c.2 The family of 
Terah, which travelled from Ur to Haran on its way to 
Canaan, the customary caravan route, must have been 
well acquainted with the moon-worship. In the astral 


1 Cf, Kittel, Die orientalischen Ausgrabungen, p. 17. 
2 DB, ii. p, 301, 


The Patriarchal Period 31 


worship of which we have spoken the moon took the 
highest point in the zodiac, and was accordingly 
honoured as first among the gods, As the measurer 
of time, by whom the yearly calendar was fixed, the 
moon was the symbol of law and order, as well as of 
the light that illuminated the darkness of the night. 
We have already quoted part of one of the great 
hymns to the moon. A few more lines may be given— 
As for thee, thy word lets truth and righteousness arise, so 
that men speak truth. 
As for thee, thy word is like the far heavens, the hidden deep, 
through which none can look. 
O lord, in heaven in lordship, on earth in rule, hast thou among 
the gods, thy brothers, no rivals, 


King of kings, supreme, against whose command none appears, 
to whom in godhead no god is equal. 


We wait, as we read, for the man who can take the 
next step, and follow the stream of thought into the 
deep sea of truth. 
Now, the Bible says that, at the very time when 
this religion was being severely tested, such a man 
me, and that his name was Abraham. It does not 
describe this earlier worship, because it is not interested 
in it; its design is to tell the story of the self-revelation 
of the one God, and to trace His purpose of redemption. 
But it tells us that to one man there came an unmis- 
| takable message. He felt the spirit of the Highest, 
}and could not confound, nor doubt Him, nor deny, 
| ‘Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought,’ he saw 
/ that there was one Supreme Being who was seeking 


¥ 


32 The Witness of Israel 


him, longing to enter into communion with him. 
Driven on by this new knowledge, he gathered all that 
he had and went forth to live the simpler life, to meet 
with his God, undistracted by city noises and temple 
rites. Through the after years of his life, faith 
strengthened into certainty. He was able to force 
his faith on others. His faith became the faith of 
influence, and in his family and tribe the knowledge 
was preserved until the hour struck that heralded the 
birth of the next great hero. 

It must surely be admitted that there is nothing 
intrinsically improbable in this. Rather, to a believer 
in the divine control of human history, it bears the 
stamp of inevitable truth. 

If it is urged that, in any case, the date of these 
chapters is many centuries later than the events they 
record, and that therefore they cannot be treated as 
first-rate historical authorities, we agree. But the 
marked sobriety of tone, so free from extravagances 
of representation, suggests that the writers were keep- 
ing within the limits of traditions handed down from 
generation to generation, national records preserved by 
the tenacious memory of the East. 

Jeremias adds a number of instances in which the 
social customs correspond rather to the usages of the 
Hammurabi period than to those of later Israel. He 
remarks, for instance— 


It is recorded in Gen. xxix, ff. that Jacob, during the 
lifetime of his wife, married her sister. In the later law 


The Patriarchal Period 33 


(Lev. xviii. 18) this is counted as incest. But the ancient 
Babylonian civil law permits such a marriage with two 
sisters at once. A legend-maker of later time would 
certainly, in the interest of the prevailing law, have avoided 
going back upon old legalized customs of this kind.’ 


oe This scholar’s general verdict is of importance. He 
refuses to admit that the narratives can be tendency 
writings, and says that it would be easier for a 
twentieth-century scholar, versed in Oriental antiquities, 
to reproduce so exactly the conditions of the age of 
Hammurabi, than it would have been for an Israelite 
during the monarchy. He suggests that archaeology 
should remind Wellhausen of his own dictum, ‘If the 
Israelitish tradition were only possible, it would be 
folly to prefer before it any other possibility.’ ? 

It is true that it is urged that the religious ideas 
and practices enshrined in these chapters correspond 
to the state of Israel before the emergence of Amos 
and Hosea. <A closer study hardly confirms. The 
simplicity of the worship of the patriarchs, without 
any temples or settled sanctuaries, the absence of ritual 
or of priests, the freedom of their approach to God 
and their intimacy with Him, the absence of definite 
theological ideas, all point back to a primitive period. 
This is put with much freshness in some comments 
made to Gressmann by Eichhorn, where it is shown 
that the representations of God in Genesis differ toto 
eaelo from those of the whole Old Testament, 


1 ATAO, pp. 365-6. 2 Ibid. pp. 365-6. 
D 





34 The Witness of Israel 


The earth does not tremble when Jehovah appears ; the 
tent does not become bright because of His face when-He 
enters ; man does not die when he sees the Godhead. Only 
in Genesis, never again elsewhere, is Jehovah described in 
so humanaform. With Adam He walks through Paradise ; 
at the flood He personally closes the ark; He smells with 
pleasure the fragrance of Noah’s offering. With Abraham 
He is a guest, and strengthens Himself with a morning 
meal. With Jacob He strives and is overcome. One notes 
that there is breathing here an altogether different air than 
elsewhere in the Old Testament. These histories must 
have arisen in another circle, since a characteristic atmo- 
sphere rules in them which we learn to know here only. — 
The difference between Genesis and e.g. the book of 
Exodus in this respect is so obvious that only a blind man 
can miss it.’ 


This is a long way from the supposed reflection of the 
conditions of life in the early monarchy. It is true 
that Gressmann goes on to argue for the Canaanitish 
origin of these narratives. We need not follow him 
there. The fact and its interpretation are two different 
things. But the fact is unmistakable. In admittedly 
the oldest part of Exodus the theophany is with 
thunder and cloud and the sound of a trumpet 
exceeding loud, while the people shrink in terror from 
the burning mount lest the LORD should break forth 
upon them (Exod. xix. 16-22, J.and E.). Why should 
the same writers or editors speak with so much more 
simplicity of the manifestation of God to the fathers 


1 Gressmann, Der Ursprung der israelitisch-jiidischen Eschato- 
logie, p. 129 n. 


The Patriarchal Period 35 


unless they were limited by tradition? In an arti- 
ficially constructed history the element of wonder 
would naturally increase as the times treated of grew 
more remote. Moreover, as Driver asks— 


Why, unless there had been positive historical recollec- 
tions forbidding it to do so, did not Israelite tradition 
concentrate all the glory of founding the national Church 
and State upon Moses? If, in spite of the great national 
deliverance undoubtedly achieved by Moses, Israelite tradi- 
tion nevertheless goes back beyond Moses, and finds in the 
patriarchs the first roots not only of the possession of the 
land, but also of the people’s higher worship of God, this 
can only be reasonably accounted for by the assumption 
that memory had retained a hold of the actual course of 
events.’ 


Summing up, then, we conclude the Bible picture of _ 
Abraham is, in broad ot outline, intrinsically credible and _ 


Seectically required. Breaking right away from the _ 


gorgeous ritual that had oppressed his earlier years, — 
“he turned, as many a reformer has done since, to the _ 
_ simplest form of religion, resting on a faith won by 
~ conflict, needing no external supports. A long discipline 
of law was needed before his spiritual descendants 
could win through to the worship in the spirit. Lesser 
men must travel hard and painful roads before they 
can stand by the side of the men of genius and enter 
into the inheritance they have won. For Abraham the 
Promise—for us the Law and its humbling burden 








1 Genesis, p. xlvii. 


36 The Witness of Israel 


before we can enter into rest. That is Paul’s philosophy 
of history, and we can accept it with confidence. 


Before there was an Israelitish nation and common- 
wealth, before there was a Mosaic law as the foundation for 
that commonwealth, there was formed between the heart of 
the Father in heaven and a solitary human heart, which 
sought God above nature, a covenant of personal intercourse, 
of fatherly disclosures and filial acts of confidence, which 
continued and was developed as a sacred tradition—first in 
a family of friends of God, and then in a nation growing out 
of the family ; and that covenant was the germ of the 
religion of salvation for all the nations of the earth. That 
is the element of most certain truth in the biblical story of 
Abraham which the penetration of the Apostle discovers.’ 


1 Beyschlag, N. T. Theology, quoted by Shaw, Pauline Epistles, 
p. 111. 





CHAPTER III 
EGYPT AND THE WORK OF MOSES 


Early history of Egypt—The conquest of the Hyksos—Babylonian 
influences—The Tel El-Amarna tablets—The reformation of 
Amenophis IV (Khuenaten)—His monotheistic faith and its 
limitations—Israel in Egypt—Historicity of the story of 
Joseph—Cause of the oppression—Moses—Critical estimate 
of his work inadequate—Evidence from Amos, from J., 
from E.—All show faith in the one God lying far behind 
them—Second line of proof—The dwelling-places of God— 
Stade on this; cf. the Book of Jashar and Song of Deborah— 
Third line of proof—Burney on the origin of the attributes 
ascribed to Jehovah—All lines point back to and meet in 
Moses—Objections considered: (a) The bull-worship. Not 
inconsistent with our view. Burney’s suggestion. (6) The 
Ark. Its real purpose and meaning—Conclusion—Moses 
taught the indissoluble unity between morality and religion. 
Sellin on this fact. 


over to the other great ancient home of culture, 
to Egypt. The history of this country begins 
later than that of Babylonia. The date of Menes, the 
first historical king of Egypt, is ‘variously given, from 
ATTT 3.0. (Flinders Petrie) to 3400 3.c, (Breasted). 
Breasted, however, states that _predynastic kings were 


| HAVING Babylonia, the Bible history passes 








38 The Witness of Israel 


already flourishing in 4500 B.c. The founding of the 
temple of Bel at Nippur is placed from 7000-6000 B.c. 

It lies beyond our scope to discuss the earlier 
religions of Egypt. What is of interest here is to note 
that about 1900-1800 B.c. Northern Egypt was overrun 
by hordes of foreigners from Canaan. After a period 
of anarchy, accompanied by much pillage and many 
cruel massacres, the Hyksos, the ‘Shepherd kings,’ 
established a dynasty which lasted till the 16th 

entury B.c. The weight of authority seems to be 
against the suggestion that these Hyksos were them- 
selves Semites, but doubtless there followed in their 
train crowds of Canaanites, bringing with them Semitic 
customs and beliefs which were for centuries to exercise 
a controlling influence over the whole life and thought 
of Egypt. 

If, then, we possessed no other evidence, it would 
be extremely probable that the Babylonian modes of 
thought, which worked so powerfully in Palestine, 
became dominant in Egypt also. That this actually 
happened has been proved in the most striking manner 
by the great discoveries at El-Amarna, situated on the 
east bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt, made i in 1888 
and following years. 

Egypt is still the land of promise for explorers. 
In its wonderfully dry climate, buried in its sand, 
tablets and parchments last uninjured for many 
centuries. The finding of the Logia, and more recently 
still of the Aramaic papyri at Elephantine, are fresh 


_— the times of Amenophis III and IV (c, 1414-1365 B.C.). 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 39 


in the memories of students. But the discovery of 

these crumbling wooden chests at El-Amarna, filled. 
with clay tablets covered on both sides with writing, 

still remains unsurpassed in interest. When read, 

these tablets proved to be Egyptian state archives from 

They contained many letters addressed to the king 
from Egyptian officials in Syria and Canaan, some from 

Asiatic kings, and some communications from the 

Egyptian Foreign Office. But the most astonishing 

fact is that all these tablets are written in the Semitic 

speech of Babylonia, which was accordingly in those 

fan Ge wiveral language of diplomacy. Hence it 

follows that the older accounts of Babylonian occupa- 

tion of all the habitable land up to the Mediterranean 

and the river of Egypt are strikingly confirmed. As 

has been said— 


Their influence extended to the minutest details of 
business and social life; their language and literature 
formed a liberal education for all the cultivated classes 
in Western Asia. ... We are learning more clearly as 
each year of discovery goes by, that what the Grecians and 
Romans were to the world we still call ‘ancient,’ the Baby- 
lonians were to countries and peoples of an antiquity 


smote ae 
Let us now proceed to ask whether in the records 
of these times we can trace any of the higher streams 


1 McCurdy, History, Prophecy, and the Monuments, vol. i. 
pp. 185-6 (quoted henceforth as HPM.), 


Ao The Witness of Israel 


of thought which ran through the Babylonian teaching. 
At once we are confronted by the strange figure of the 
‘heretic king,’ Amenophis IV (1383-1865 8.c.). From 
the calm, grave faces of most of the Egyptian kings 
there looks out one with slanting forehead, flexible 
projecting mouth, strongly advancing chin, long, narrow 
neck, stamped as a foreigner, even if we did not know 
that his mother was no Egyptian. 

This king, rebelling against the worship of Amon, 
cultivated with great pomp by the priesthood of Thebes, 
declared that henceforth there was to be but one God 
in Egypt, omnipresent and omniscient, brooking no 
rival, To the generations of the past he had been 
revealed under the form of Ra, the sun-god; but Ra 
had been worshipped in ignorance, and confounded 
with gods who were no gods. For this divinity a name 
was found in Aten, ‘ the solar disc,’ and the king him- 
self adopted the name of Khuenaten, ‘Spirit of the 
Sun,’ repudiating the name of Amenophis. In his zeal 
for his new religion Amenophis began an iconoclastic 
campaign. The name of Amon was removed with 
hammer and chisel even from the inscriptions com- 
memorating his forefathers, whilst a shrine of the new 
god was built at the very gates of Amon’s ancient 
temple. It is interesting to compare with this the 
campaign of Josiah against the high places in Judah, 
seven hundred years later. 

The immediate result was open rebellion on the — 

1 See the figure in EH, Bi, col, 1239. 





Egypt and the Work of Moses 41 


part of both priests and people; and the king, leaving 
Thebes, carrying with him the state archives, built for 
himself a new city and palace, marked still by the 
mounds of El-Amarna. Here he reared a stately 
temple to his god, and taught the new ‘doctrine,’ as it 
was Officially called, to his followers. 

A few extracts will suffice to show how high this 
new teaching reached, Aten is hailed as the creator 
of all things, 


the far-off heavens, mankind, the animals and the birds ; 
our eyes are strengthened by his beams, and when he reveals 
himself, all flowers grow and live ; at his rising, the pastures 
bring forth, they are intoxicated before his face; all the 
cattle skip on their feet, and the birds in the marshes 
flutter with joy. 


So again it is said of him— 


Thou hast created the earth according to thy pleasure, 
when thou wast alone, both all men and the cattle, great 
and small ; all who walk upon the earth, those on high who 
‘fly with wings ; the foreign lands of Syria and Cush, as well 
land of Egypt. 


jy Bayes says of this teaching: ‘For the first time in 
history, so far as we know, the doctrine was proclaimed 
that the Supreme Being was the God of all mankind.’! 

As we try to estimate the religious value of such 
utterances, we come again to the same phenomenon 
which we found in Babylonia. Once more an earnest 
seeker after truth seems to stand on the very threshold. 

1 Gifford Lectures, pp. 94-9. 





42 The Witness of Israel 


In his faith in a god who brooked the worship of no 
other by his side, he came near to the thought of ‘the 
jealous God,’ who must have all or none. If the 
thoughts of the first extract given above seem to be 
pantheistic, the same might be said of many of the 
biblical psalms. How was it that at the death of 
Amenophis the old faith reasserted itself, and all his 
work was undone? The answer is not doubtful. It 
}was because his god was an abstraction, and not a 
‘person. As Marti has said— 


In Egypt and Babylon monotheism is theory, in Israel 
strength and life. There it is the product of a speculating 
abstraction won through a fusion of the gods, here the 
experience of a higher Being, the inner realization of his 
moral and spiritual might; ‘here the empty concept of 
monotheism, Here the fullness of power and life which must 
indwell this faith, where it is a true faith.? 


~ When we go deeper, and ask why Israel alone 
found such a faith, we are forced back upon the old 
4 answer. It was amongst this people that the spiritual 


. genius. was found that could pierce beneath the_sur- 


| face and find God. Israel became the chosen people 

|] because its great m men showed a receptivity of divine _ 
truth which was never equalled in any other nation. 

From this brief survey of Egyptian thought we 

turn to the Bible story which narrates how the 

descendants of Abraham, after living for an undefined 

period in Canaan, passed over into Egypt and settled 


1 Das Dodekapropheton, p. 149. 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 43 


there. No event in the whole history of the people 
made a deeper mark on the thought of later generations 
than this. Critical scepticism as represented by Stade, 
and at present by Cheyne, has doubted whether Israel 
was ever in Egypt at all. On the one side the absence 
of any native Egyptian statement about the Hebrews, 
and on the other a presumed deep-lying corruption and 
confusion of the biblical text, are urged in support of 
these theories. 

It is, however, hardly too much to say that such 
doubts would destroy almost all the history of 
antiquity. The argument from silence is proverbially 
dangerous. As Kittel points out, there is not a single 
statement in the old Egyptian monuments which can 
be unhesitatingly explained as referring to the immi- 
gration of the Hyksos. Yet no one can doubt this 
fact, And, he adds with great force— 

It is almost incredible that a people whose national 
sentiment was so developed, so almost arrogant, as was the 
case with the Hebrews, would have invented the fiction of 
a long-continued shameful bondage suffered by their fore- 
fathers. . . . It would betoken a high and more than 
normal deficiency of historical sense in the Israelite national 
character, if a purely mythical occurrence gave the keynote 
of the whole national life, and formed the starting-point of 
the entire circle of religious thought as early as the days of 
the first literary prophets.? 


As in the case of Abraham, the historicity of the 
story of Joseph has been much discussed. A cautious 
1 History of the Hebrews, i. pp. 185-6. 


44 The Witness of Israel 


and guarded statement of the case is given by Driver.’ 

/It is pointed out by him that the Egyptian colouring 

so often observed in Gen. xxxix. ff. is common to 
ye the two main sources into which criticism divides 
A | these chapters, and was therefore presumably present 

or ' in the traditions on which these writers based their 
narratives. References are given to the works of 

| Egyptologists, who have shown the entire credibility 

) | of the story as a whole. Driver therefore concludes 
_ that it is probable that there was an actual person 

\ Joseph, who underwent substantially the experiences 
[| / recounted of him in Genesis, and who, having risen to 





power in Egypt, succeeded in obtaining for his fellow 
tribesmen a home in the pastoral land of Goshen. For 
our purpose this is quite sufficient. Popular imagi- 
nation may have coloured or supplemented the historical 
traditions by reference to the conditions of later times. 
It is enough for us to know that the higher religious 
conceptions won by Abraham were being handed on 
from generation to generation, often obscured and 
almost forgotten, yet waiting for the man who could 
come and breathe new life into them, and by an appeal 
to the God of the fathers, inspire his people, and rouse 
them to united action. 

The Bible narratives assert that such a man came 
in Moses. One may conjecture that in the reaction 
that followed the death of Amenophis IV, and the 
collapse of his attempted reformation, the Hebrew 


1 DB, ii. Art. Joseph. 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 45 


tribes, who also stood outside the priestly religion of 
Egypt, were singled out for harsh treatment and 
oppression, At any rate, we have once more the 
historical background which makes the oppression 
entirely comprehensible. More we can hardly expect. 

To estimate justly the work and faith of Moses is 
the hardest task of biblical criticism to-day. 

As we have seen in the introductory chapter, it must 
be frankly admitted that the Pentateuch contains 
masses of material from widely different ages. It is 
the abiding monument of biblical criticism that it 
has disentangled the various codes, and shown how 
they grew with the life of the nation. We have 
learnt to see that the constantly recurring words, 
‘And the Lord spake unto Moses,’ are a formula 
corresponding to our own, ‘Be it therefore enacted,’ 
and were freely used by legislators who believed truly 
that they were heirs of the spirit of Moses, guided by 
the same God who had called him. But when we rise 
from this necessary study of details and try to look 
at the man who stands behind all these laws, very 
different pictures emerge. It is more generally _ 
recognized than ever_before that we must admit that_ 
we have in Moses one of the great personalities who_ 
create human history. The critical school, which did 

ieee 
so much to rediscover the personalities of the prophets, 
is now feeling its way backwards to reconstruct the 





1 Cf. Duhm’s epoch-making book on The Theology of the 
Prophets. 


46 The Witness of Israel 


figure of Moses. But, in the main, it still entirely 
rejects the suggestions of the earlier chapters of this 
work. To it the God whom Moses proclaimed was 
first a national God, and afterwards the God of one 
country, Palestine. Instead of the outline we have 
sketched of the higher knowledge attained by the 
patriarchs, we must put the animistic ideas described 
by Robertson Smith in his Religion of the Semites. 
To look for an ethical monotheism earlier than the 
8th century is an anachronism. All the crudities of 
the histories of the Book of Judges are appealed to 
in support of this position. Moses could not have 
enacted the Decalogue for the reason that image-worship 
of Jehovah was freely practised, without any conscious- 
ness of wrong, through the early centuries of the 
settlement in Canaan. Hence Amos is a greater name 
than Moses in the history of religion. 
To meet such a position in detail is obviagiia 
impossible in a work of this scope. All that can be 
‘ done is to outline the arguments which appear to show 
\the inherent probability of the Bible’s own view that 
/Moses stood on an immensely higher pedestal, and to 
a that there is no such gap between him and the 
jwriting prophets as is often assumed. % 
/ The scientific method of proof is to examine the 
presuppositions of the writings whose date is undoubted, 
and to try to understand what is their necessary 
background, 
Starting, then, with Amos, the first, according to 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 47 


critical opinion, of the writing prophets, it has often 
been pointed out that the force of his appeals lies in 
the relentless way in which he shows the real conclu- 
sions of ideas accepted by all his hearers. The great 
sentence in iii. 2, in which he strikes with the stroke 
of a hammer the national self-complacency, is an 
illustration of this. ‘You only have I known of all the 
families of the earth, therefore I will visit upon you all 
your iniquities, It is obvious that the people knew 
that Jehovah had chosen them of His own free will. He 
might have chosen others, but did not. Hence to them 
He must have been far more than one God amongst 
many, tied to His own land. Even the people of 
Northern Israel in the days of Amos had a faith which 


s 


a 
in germ was monotheistic. \6 
But we have far stronger evidence than this, just >| P 
because it is so much earlier. Criticism has decided | —  & 


that the two great early sources of the Pentateuch, 
-known as J, and E., the Jehovistic and Elohistic ; 
narratives, belong to the century before Amos; J., the | 
earlier, being dated from 850-750 B.c. What religious 
beliefs do these narratives contain ? 

Let us start with the teaching of J. To him 
Jehovah is the God who created mankind and has ever 
since controlled its history. He is a God gracious 
and merciful (Gen. vi. 8, viii. 21, xviii. 23 ff, xxxi, 12), 
all-powerful and ever-present with His people (Gen. 
XXVi. 3, xxviii. 15, xxxix. 2). We are struck at once 
by the absence of national limitations. The writer 






The Witness of Israel 


has not only grasped the idea of the one supreme God, 
but he also understands the unity of mankind. 
In the same writer we find the story of the origin 


48 





power of temptation, and the consequences of yielding 

‘to it; we see the dark picture of the growth of wicked- 
/ ness in civilization, but are led to hope for ultimate 
a victory through the loving-kindness of Jehovah. 

Then we are shown the beginnings of the nation of 
Israel, and are taught that it has a mission in the 
world. 

/- As to the message of E. we may quote the summary ~ 
of one who was himself an honoured leader of the 


— 


rk 


| critical school. 
Israel’s God is a being of wonderful majesty and exalted 
personality, with unlimited power. His purpose concerning 


the nation is unchanging. . . . In every important crisis 
of national history, Israel’s God has shown this interest by 
direct action on Israel’s behalf ; but He has never hesitated 
to send punishment when Israel deserved the same... 
E.’s thought of sin is that of J. 


C 


Hence we see that though the view of E. is more 
national, and reveals no interest in the world-thoughts 
of J., the same lofty ethical conception of the one — 


1 For the division into the different sources, Driver or Bennett 

on Genesis, or Driver’s Introduction, may be consulted. The 

‘extract above is from Harper’s Amos and Hosea, pp. lxxxiii.—lxxxiv. 

An extremely valuable estimate of the sources may be found there. 

Harper’s conclusions as to Moses are less positive than those of the 
present writer. 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 49 


supreme God lies behind them both. It is necessary 
to emphasize the word behind both, since it is often 
claimed that this teaching about God does not belong 
to the original drafts of these documents, but has been 
added to them by writers inspired by the spirit of 
Amos and Hosea. One can only reply to that that it 
seems as impossible to edit this teaching out of J. and 
E. as it is to eliminate the miraculous from the earliest 
substratum of the Synoptic Gospels. It is woven 
into their very substance, and cannot be taken out 
without ruining the whole. If this be so, we are met 
by the dilemma—either J. and E. as a whole are later 
than Amos and Hosea, or ethical monotheism is earlier 
than those prophets. The first alternative being surely 
impossible, we are shut up to the second conclusion. 


But, then, where did this monotheism come from? Is | . SY ; 

there any resting-place for thought in the intervening \\~\..°” 
; Ax) ve 

centuries till we reach Moses? The time between - ~~ . 


Moses and the 9th century B.c. is far less than the va 
interval between Augustine and Luther. How oftenin, \\\ 
those dark centuries of the Middle Ages did it seem as“ 
though pure Christianity had altogether disappeared ! 
Yet the stream was only running underground, and ms 
presently its fertilizing power was seen once more. 
We claim that the same phenomenon occurred in the 
history of Israel. 

A second line of proof comes from the considera- 
tion of the teaching of the earliest sources as to the 
dwelling-place and modes of manifestation of Jehovah. 

E 








50 The Witness of Israel 


According to Stade there are three conceptions in the 
pre-prophetic religion. He dwells (1) at Sinai, (2) in 
the land of Canaan, (3) at the different sanctuaries of 
the land. Stade adds— 


That Jehovah dwells in heaven, ie. in a glorious 
habitation uplifted above the earthly world and distinct 
from it, is quite unknown. Even when He appears on the 
clouds of heaven it is a question of a manifestation within 
the world. Amos is still so completely unacquainted with 
the dwelling of Jehovah in heaven that he makes sinners 
flee before Him into heaven (Amos ix. 2).* 


Two admittedly ancient passages refute this view. 

In Joshua x. 12 is a quotation from the Book of Jashar, 
Ider certainly than J. or E. Yet here sun and moon 
obey the commands of Jehovah, In the Song of 
ae sometimes styled the oldest monument of 
Hebrew literature, heaven and earth tremble at 
/ Jehovah’s approach.? Everywhere Jehovah appears as 
lord over all the forces of nature. Such words as ‘fire 
and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfilling His 
word,’ 3 might have been written at any period of the 
history. That Jehovah should manifest Himself at 
specially sacred spots does not mean that He was 
limited to them. Long after His universal lordship 
was recognized by all, men went up to Jerusalem ‘to 
see His face.’ Side by side with the passage in Amos 
may be put the late Psalm cxxxix. It is not Amos 


1 Stade, Biblische Theologie des A. T. pp, 103-4. 
2 Judges v. 4. 
3 Ps, exlviii. 8. 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 51 


but the sinner who vainly thinks that there can be a 
place where God is not, or dreams that rocks or hills 
or watery depths can hide from Him. Again one asks: 
“Where did this conception come from if it was so far 
beyond Moses 2’ 

Mr. C. F. Burney has added another proof that is 
worthy of serious consideration. He points out that to 
the desert-dweller the forces of nature appear hostile 


and destructive, but to the agriculturist beneficent_and 
gracious, Seeing, then, that primitive man ascribes 
all natural phenomena to supernatural agencies, we 
may judge from the attributes chiefly ascribed to the 
deity in what stage of life they were conceived. He 


proceeds— 


Now if we take note of the natural phenomena which 
were associated by early Israel with the activity of Jehovah, 
we shall find that they were those destructive agencies of 
nature the effects of which would naturally impress a 
nomadic people. Especially do we observe that Jehovah is 
connected with fire, regarded as a consuming and destruc- 
tive element, and with the thunderstorm and earthquake.’ 


Many instances of this are given, and the conclusion 
drawn that we have here the impression made upon a 
race of nomads by the phenomena of the desert life, 
and that this conception passed with Israel into the 
settled life of Canaan. It is then argued that the 
fact that this conception survived the settlement, and 
escaped assimilation to the corrupt nature-worship of 
1 Journal of Theological Studies, April, 1908, 





52 The Witness of Israel 


Canaan is due to the strong ethical element bound up 
with it. 

[ Jehovah was introduced by Moses to Israel as a Being 
endowed with certain definite moral characteristics, and 
requiring the same kind of characteristics on the part of 

| His people2 

The general indignation against those who wrought 
folly in Israel is another evidence that this moral 
element was present in the national consciousness, and 
could be appealed to on occasion. 

Mr. Burney further quotes the Rechabites as 
witnesses to his contention that even in the sixth 
century there were those who clung to the old concep- 
tion of Jehovah and His worship, and rejected the 
settled life of agriculturists because it appeared to 
them to be too closely bound up with the worship of 

- the Canaanite Baalim. 

Summing up these arguments, we claim that an 

examination of the admittedly earliest sources of the 

Old Testament reveals everywhere the faith in the one, 

supreme, holy God, demanding moral service from His 

subjects. Some of the lines point back to Moses, 
Py because we can find no reasonable starting-point for 

a bY them later than him ; others go right back to the desert 

A! <v' | period; for them all the only point of convergence we 
aA /| can find is in Moses. Such a position is not only 

ue consistent with a frank acceptance of the results of 

literary criticism, but it is demanded by them. 

‘\ 1 Jowrnal of Theological Stwdies, April, 1908, p. 329. 







Egypt and the Work of Moses 53 


We have, however, still to deal with the main 
argument of the critical school that the low state of 
religion in Israel in the first centuries after the entrance 
into Canaan is a decisive proof of the impossibility of 
our position ; and further, that images were freely used 
in the worship of Jehovah right through the early 
history of the monarchy. 

We have preferred to defer any consideration of 
this because it appears to us to be deduced from a 
collection of exceptions rather than from a broad survey 

of the whole field, but we have certainly to face the 
fact that in the days of Amos the people of Northern 


Israel appear, without any qualms of conscience, to 


have worshipped Jehovah under the form of the golden 
bull. If so, it is asked, what becomes of the second 
commandment? Now, it might be replied that this 
commandment may be read as forbidding the making 
of the image of any god except Jehovah. Certainly 
that is a perverted exposition: but Christian exegesis, 
which at one time taught that every bishop must be 
married because St. Paul had said that a bishop must 
be the husband of one wife, could furnish many 
parallels. At any rate, Hosea despised these images, 
and one can never picture Elijah bowing himself down 
before them. But another suggestion has been revived 
by Burney in the article just quoted. It has now 
been proved that the sacred name Jehovah was known 
in Babylonia. It is also a puzzling fact, proved by the 
monuments, that there are references to Israel, as a 








54 The Witness of Israel 


people dwelling in Canaan, some time before the 
SNExodus. MY Burney supposes that these earliest 
wv settlers also called themselves the people of Jehovah, 
ar and hailed the invaders under Joshua as their brethren, 
) | But their worship of Jehovah lacked the moral earnest- 
‘fo ness of Moses, and was easily corrupted by the 
surrounding religions. Hence the Bible story is really 
that of a long-continued struggle between the higher 
and lower conceptions of Jehovah. The band of 
prophets of Jehovah who professed to declare His will 
to Ahab may have belonged to this lower grade, as 
also Gideon with his demoralizing forms of worship. 
Doubtless this theory, plausible and attractive 
though it is, must pass through the fire of criticism 
before it can be accepted as probable, but, true 
or false, it shows how far we are from the end of 
possible explanations of these antinomies. The dis- 
cussion of the passages which are supposed to show 
that image-worship was freely practised in the name 
of Jehovah until quite a late period, even by such 
ardent worshippers as David, is given in the next 
chapter. 

Meanwhile we contend that in the biblical tradition 
about Moses there is not the slightest trace of his ever 
having represented his God in any material form. At 

’ On this, see also Gordon, The Early Traditions of Genesis, 
p. 187. Dr. Gordon thinks that such a theory fails to account 
for the common esprit and common traditions of the united 


nation. He thinks, however, that these Habiri of the monuments 
afterwards formed the tribe of Asher. 


i Egypt and the Work of Moses 55 


one time it was argued that the Ark was a materialistic 
ysymbol of Jehovah’s presence, or that it contained 
4,0" some sacred image or fetish. But recent writers, 
‘) Afollowing Babylonian parallels, have seen in it either 
: throne or a reminiscence of the object carried in 
Marduk’s processions containing the ‘tables of fate.’ ? 
tis extremely interesting to observe how close the 
last suggestion comes to the statement that the Ark 
yy contained the two tables of stone on which the Deca- 
logue was written. In the law as given in Deuteronomy, 
Covenant and Decalogue are used as synonymous 
terms. Thus it is there stated: ‘And He declared 
unto you His Covenant, which He commanded you to 
perform, even the ten commandments; and He wrote 

them upon two tables of stone? That is why the _ 
Ark is called the ‘Ark of the Covenant,’ just because 
it contained the Covenant. Dr. A. R. S. Kennedy 
concludes that there is no ‘reason for rejecting the 
ancient tradition which the author of Deuteronomy 
found in his sources that the Ark contained the tables 
originally deposited there by Moses himself’% Such 

a remark appears to be perfectly just.* 

But if this be so, the Ark is really a most powerful 
witness to the absence of any image-worship in the 


1 Cf, ATAO, pp. 436, fi. 

2 Deut. iv. 13. 

3 D.B. i, 151. 

‘ Some argue strongly that the Ark was really a throne, seat of 
an invisible deity who sat between the cherubim. This thought is 
not necessarily excluded by what we have said. 


56 The Witness of Israel 


days of Moses. The armies of Israel marched behind 

it to battle as the Crusaders followed the Cross. But 

whatever superstitious notions may have gathered 

A pound it in the minds of the mass of the people, there 

NG is no valid reason for holding that to Moses it was 

omar than the visible. sacramental symbol of the divine 
Presence. 

We maintain, then, that we have every right to 
trace the Decalogue, in its shorter, primitive form, | 
back to Moses. “That being so, we can estimate the 
greatness of his contribution to religion, The laws of 
the second table, at any rate from the fifth to the ninth, 
had existed long before him. No human community 
could endure without them. But Moses taught, once _ 


for all, the indissoluble_union between morality and_ 
eligion. Speaking of the D Decalogue, Sellin says— 












lts unique importance consists in this, that here, and 
only here, those moral commandments were grounded upon 
the first and second—the commandments to worship the 
one invisible God of the nation—and placed in line with 
the religious third and fourth commandments. By this, 
with a force which we can discern in no other ancient 
Eastern nation, the whole common social life_of man was_ 
placed under the rule of the one divine Will, by this the 
separate moral cor commandments received _an_altogether new _ 
significance. Their violation is the violation of the one 
holy Wil, ¢ the foundation of of the whole national life ; = 





ness, en and pity? 


1 Die A, T. "Religion im Rahmen der andern altorientalischen, 
pp. 22-3, 


Egypt and the Work of Moses 57 | 


That this was the work of one divinely inspired 
man is no wonder. 


Epoch-making religious ideas generally come upon the 
scene in full strength and purity; it is only in course of 
further development that these products of religious creative 
genius, or, better, of divine impulse, are corrupted and 
disfigured by the intrusion of vulgar human ideas and 
selfish interests.’ 


Many a time in the course of the history these 
great thoughts of Moses suffered eclipse, many a time 
they seemed to have vanished. But they were filled 
with the divine victorious energy which cannot fail 
nor be discouraged, and at last, proclaimed again with 
tremendous force by the eighth-century prophets, 
entered on a new career of conquest. 


1 Kautzsch, D.B, v. 6382a, 


CHAPTER IV 
PALESTINE AND ITS INFLUENCES 


Geographical and political position of Palestine—Incompleteness 
of first conquest—The religions of the Canaanites—Lllustra- 
tions from Gezer—Dangers of syncretism—Ethical power of 
religion of Israel in resisting this—Deborah—Samuel— 
Alleged traces of image-worship in early Israel examined— 
The ephod—The teraphin—The manumission of slaves— 
‘Beholding the face of Jehovah ’—The case for image-worship 
in pure religion of Jehovah quite unproved—Further con- 
siderations in support—The structure of Solomon’s Temple— 
His dedicatory ode as restored by criticism—Persistence of 
the true faith. 


lavishes all his wealth of description on the land 


ti the Book of Deuteronomy the patriot author 
of Palestine. It is 


a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and 
depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of 
wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, 
a land of oil olives and honey. . . . A land which the Lord 
thy God careth for, the eyes of the Lord thy God are 
always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto 
the end of the year.’ 


In many respects this land of promise was fitted to 


ee 
1 Deut. viii, 7-8, xi, 12, 


a 


Palestine and its Influences 59 


be the scene of the great conflict between the religions 

-of the flesh and the spirit. It lay between the two great Le eal 
seats of empire, Babylonia and Egypt, sufficiently apart on 
from them to let its inhabitants develop their own US 
individuality, and yet close enough for them to be Pa pbes 
saved from provincialism, as they watched the rise and Qabe 
fall of changing dynasties. 


X : 
There is no land which is at once so much a sanctuary ou 
and an observatory as Palestine ; no land which, till its 
office was fulfilled; was so swept by the great forces of 
history, and was yet so capable of preserving one tribe in 
national continuity and growth; one tribe learning and 
suffering and rising superior to the successive problems 
these forces presented to her, till upon the opportunity 
afforded by the last of them she launched with her results 
upon the world.’ 


It is needful for the Bible reader to grasp a 
how much of this land was left unconquered till the 

rise of the monarchy. The first reading of the Book 

of Joshua suggests that before his death all the land is 

had been subdued— 


So the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He 
sware to give unto their fathers ; and they possessed it and 
dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, 
according to all that He sware unto their fathers: and 
there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; 
the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.* 


But this peaceful picture has to be studied in the 


1G, A. Smith, Historical Geography, p. 112. 
2 Joshua xxi, 43-4, 


> 
 & ~ 


SS Ne 
* 


60 The Witness of Israel 


light cast by the records of the Book of Judges. In its 
first chapter we see the separate tribes, after Joshua’s 
death, fighting to secure their territory, and compelled 
to leave many of the stronger Canaanitish cities un- 
conquered.t In the sequel, not only did the maritime 
cities of Philistia and Phoenicia retain their inde- 
pendence, but a strong line of fortresses, Taanach, 
Megiddo, Bethshean, secured to the former inhabitants 
the richest inland plain, the valley of the Kishon. 
Further south, such strongholds as Shaalbim, Ajalon, 
Gezer, and Jebus shut off almost completely the tribes 
of Judah and Simeon from the rest of the Israelites, 
It is true that the punitive expedition of Rameses III 
-into Palestine, which was almost contemporaneous 
with the Israelite passage of the Jordan, had greatly 
weakened the city-kings of the country, but never- 
theless, the stronger towns were still able to bid 
_ defiance to the invaders. Convincing proof of the 
truth of this representation has been furnished by 
the excavations in Palestine, whence it is clear that 
the development of these Canaanite cities went on 
unbrokenly for nearly two centuries after the invasion.? 
One result of this is shown in the Song of Deborah. 
Such was the terror inspired by the lord of these 
fortresses that ‘Caravans ceased, and those who 
travelled the roads went by roundabout paths,’ ® while 


» Judges i, 21, 27, 29, &c. 
2 Cf. Vincent, Canaan d’aprés 1 Exploration recente, p. 463. 
3 Judges v. 6, 7, R.V. m. 


Palestine and its Influences 61 


‘the hamlets ceased,’ ie. the villagers deserted their 
homes to take refuge in the towns. The great victory 
of Deborah and Barak shattered the last attempt of 
_ the Cana Canaanites to form a coalition against the Hebrew 
tribes. Certain cities, such as Gezer, which was non- 
Israelitish even in the days of Solomon, remained 
independent ; but partly by peaceful amalgamation, and 
partly by conquest, the Hebrews now became masters 
of the land. 

This brief survey is enough to show how real the(\Qh 
danger was that the higher religion of Jehovah should a 
lose its distinctive stamp as its adherents learnt to Cra 
adopt the rites and usages of the older population. + 
The explorations in Palestine have revealed far more 
than enough to justify abundantly the horror with 
which the Bible writers speak of ‘the iniquity of the 
Amorites,” The work of the Palestine _Exploration _ 

Fund at Gezer is perhaps the most striking illustration eae 
of this. Here, embedded in an earth-bank, which may _ 
have been the earthen altar of the High Place, were 
found a number ofhuman skulls. In a bell-shaped 
pit just outside the temple precincts, apparently the 
receptacle into which the refuse from the sacrifices 
was cast, were found many bones—of- human beings, 
as well as of animals. Over the whole area of the 
Holy Place the earth was found to be a regular 
cemetery, in which the skeletons of young infants, 
never more than a week old, were buried. ‘These are 
i aekless zelics of the widespread custom of sacrificing — 


———— 








62 The Witness of Israel 


the first-born child. Moreover, the character of 





humerous images testifies that the dark stain of 

“immorality, -so-often denounced by the prophets, and 
still to be seen outside the great temples of ‘India. 
to-day, defiled his worship also. 

Of quite extraordinary interest, as illustrating the 
tendency to combine with the worship of Jehovah 
customs and ideas from other religions, is the terra- 
cotta altar found at Taanach by Dr. Sellin, and called 
by him ‘the altar of incense. Taanach, in Northern 
Israel, close to Megiddo, has this advantage to the 
explorer over Gezer that it remained unoccupied for 
some 1500 years, 600 B.c.-900 a.D. Dr. Sellin suggests 
that it was destroyed by the Egyptians after the defeat 
and death of Josiah at Megiddo, 608 B.c. He fixes the 
date of this altar after the fall of Samaria, 722 B.c. 
It might be placed during Manasseh’s long reign at 
Jerusalem. It is adorned with figures of animals 
with human heads, and lions whose fore-paws rest 
on the heads of the composite figures beneath them. 
The composite figures appear to represent the cheru- 
bim of the Bible, whose réle is so much emphasized 
by Ezekiel. So far, the altar might have been used 
in the worship of Jehovah only. But besides these 
adornments one discerns what appears to be the body 
of a naked child, grasping with his two hands, as 
though to choke it, an enormous serpent. At the 
base of the altar is a tree guarded by two reclining 

1 See Macalister, Bible Sidelights from the Mound of Gezer. 


Palestine and its Influences 63 


horned animals, with heads turned towards its lowest 
branches. Dr. Sellin is of opinion that this altar 


belonged not to a temple, but to a private house. If_ 


so, we have an actual relic of the worship of an 


Israelite, touched by the “heathen culture of of his day, 
‘ho-held nominally to the worship of Jehovah, but. 


made free use of Assyrian and other symb symbols ofS 


As we ponder these things we are more and more 
impressed with the ethical power and conviction of the 
faith which overcame these influences, and blossomed 
out into the teaching of the great prophets. Sir 
W. M. Ramsay has shown how the introduction of 
Christianity into Asia Minor only broke for a moment 
the continuity of religious ideas there. The old 
religious feeling revived, and, step by step, conquered 
its new rival, and gradually destroyed the real quality 
of Christianity. The old local cults took on new and 
outwardly christianized forms; names were changed 
and outward appearances, and a show of Christian 
character was assumed. But the spirit of Paganism 
triumphed, and the worship of the Virgin Artemis of 
Ephesus revived in the worship of the Christian 
Mother of God.? 

Similarly, Dr. S. J. Curtiss has shown how in Syria 

1 See Palestine Exploration Fund, Q.S. 1904, p, 890, or Vincent, 
op. cit. pp. 181 ff. (two admirable portraits and full discussion), or 
Sellin’s own account in Tell Ta ‘annek. 


2 «The Worship of the Virgin Mary at Ephesus,’ Expositor, June, 
1905, 


pee" 


We 


p ote AEP, 


64 The Witness of Israel 


( 
t dumek among Moslems, Christians, and even among 


yy the Jews, 
the principle of ancient religion once found under the 


worship of the Baalim on high places and underneath green 
trees, still survives, and among the majority of Moslems, 
even in the great centres, is one of the most powerful 
forces of their lives. 









There must have been an unexampled force in the 
true religion of Jehovah to account for its victory. It 
‘is surely far more credible to think of the force of the 
yure faith of Moses refusing to be corrupted by these 
wroundings, than to imagine a gradual upward pro- 
/ Sress from this low nature-worship to the belief in the 
Ae One of Israel. 

Deborah is a crowning illustration of this. In the 
Ap ie of the nation’s deepest need and most complete 
dismemberment she rallied her countrymen, because 
the faith in the one supreme God lived on in her heart, 
4 e roused the people so that the dying spark burst 
out for a time into bright flame. And even though 
Ry the fire seemed to die out again in darkness, it was 
never altogether quenched. Deborah’s spirit is fierce 
and warlike, but it has the assured conviction which only 

a personal communion with God could have brought. 
‘Passing on from the troublous times of the Judges, 
\we meet the heroic personality-of Samuel, Samuel 
appears as attendant at the sanctuary of Shiloh, hallowed 


ee 
eee by the presence of the sacred_Ark, There is not the 
SO ee ermine 





1 ‘Survivals of Ancient Semitic Religion,’ Hxpositor, June, 1905. 


Palestine and its Influences 65 


slightest reference here to any image-worship of_ 


Jehovah. The Ark alone is carried into battle. Had 
there been any image of Jehovah present, that surely 
would have been taken out also. If any image remained 
after the Ark was gone, the glory of the sanctuary 
would not have faded away so suddenly. 

It is, however, urged that in the history that 
follows, in such passages as 1 Sam. xxi. 9, xxiii. 6, 
9, xxx. 7, the ‘Hphod’ was a portable image of 
Jehovah, used freely without sense of blame. Thus 
Kautzsch, with the utmost confidence, asserts that in 
these passages, as also in Judges viii. 27, xvii. 5, 
xviii, 14, 17, 18, 20, the ephod ‘ appears exclusively as 
an image of Jehovah.’! He further states that the 
attempt to explain away this meaning is ‘shattered 
by a number of ancient passages about whose true 
meaning no doubt can arise.’ ? 

The point is of such great and fundamental impor- 
tance that the grounds of this assertion require serious 
examination. In the first place, it is admitted by all 
that in the priestly code, Exod. xxv. 7, &c., the ephod 
is the priestly waistcoat. A derivative word-in Isa. 
xxx. 22, means the casing of gold with which images 
were covered, suggesting that the ephod was certainly, 
according to its root meaning, a covering or garment 


of some sort, something thrown over the wearer. As 


pec: |. .. . 

2 Thid. 642a, 

? Kautzsch compares the German Uberwarf or Uberzug; cf. also 
the English ‘ cast’ used of a model. 


F 


aSaty 


tee be) aie 


66 The Witness of Israel 


a garment it was worn by Samuel (1 Sam. ii. 18) and 
by David. In the passages, however, where, according 
to our English versions, the priests are said to wear’ 
the ephod (1 Sam. ii. 28, xiv. 3, xxii. 18), the word 
used never means_wear anywhere else, but always to 
carry or bear, used of. shields, weapons, burdens, &c. 
When, therefore, it is stated that Abiathar came down 
with an ephod in his hand (1 Sam. xxiii. 6), or that 
David said, ‘ Bring hither the ephod’ (1 Sam. xxx. 7), 
or that Goliath’s sword was taken from behind the 
ephod (1 Sam. xxi. 9), it is argued that some solid 
object must be meant. This conclusion is greatly 
weakened, however, as soon as 1 Sam. ii. 28 is read 
in full. In its present form this verse reads: ‘And 
did I choose him to be My priest, to go up unto mine 
altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me?’ 
If the words ‘before Me’ are correct, the ephod is 
certainly not an image of Jehovah, for one could not 
carry an image of Jehovah before Him. If, as Budde 
and others claim, following the LXX, these words 
should be omitted, the case is not essentially weakened. 
The editor who added ‘before Me’ saw no difficulty 
obviously in using the word ‘bear’ in the sense of 
‘wear. And in the emended text, which all the critics 
claim as a late passage, later than Deuteronomy, the _ 
use of ‘ephod’ as an image is impossible, — ‘Further, 
THe. Na 


2 Wellhausen suggested that the ‘linen ephod’ was a garment, 
but that the word ‘ephod’ used by itself means an image; in the 
light of what follows this is seen to be a needless supposition. 





Palestine and its Influences 67 


in Deut. xxx. 10, the threefold functions of the tribe 
of Levi are sacrifice, the burning of incense, and the 
eciding of the law or direction of Jehovah, If this 
verse in Samuel is, as it seems, a parallel, then the 
‘wearing’ of the ephod is parallel to the giving direc- 
tion in the name of Jehovah. We come, therefore, to 
this conclusion: The Deuteronomic editor of 1 Sam, ii. 
28 understood that the ephod, not an image, was_used 
to_give oracles, and saw no no difficulty in the way of 
using the word ‘bear’ of a garment. Consequently 
we koaeht to 0 interpret the passages where the ephod 
is used elsewhere in 1 Samuel to obtain oracles in the 
game sense. This saves us from supposing that in 
2 Sam. vi. 14, undoubtedly an early passage, ephod is 
used in one sense, that of garment, whilst in all the 
other early passages it means an image—a very clumsy 
and improbable conclusion. 

The use of the verb ‘bear’ remains still partially 
unexplained. It may, however, be suggested that ‘to 
bear garments’ is such an entirely natural figure that 
its use in any language is in no way surprising. 
Murray gives a good example in English: ‘The good 
or the evil of monasteries lyeth not in y° habite 
but in the men that beare it”! It may be that we 
have in these few passages in Samuel a survival of a 
technical use of this idiom in Hebrew in respect of the 
wearing of the special priestly habit. If so, it is 
possible that a trace remains in a passage from the 


1 Dictionary, s.v, bear. Cf. popéw, wear, from oépe. 


68 The Witness of Israel 


priestly code in Exod. xxviii. 29. In the description 
of the breastplate of judgement, part of the high-priestly 
ephod, we read: ‘And Aaron shall bear the names of 
the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgement 
upon his heart when he goeth into the holy place.’ 
Similarly, in verse 30, ‘shall dear the judgement of the 
children of Israel,’ whilst in verse 38 the word is used 
of the golden diadem on Aaron’s head. The word still 
used here of part of the ephod—in verse 29, of the rows 
of stones symbolizing the twelve tribes—may well have 
been employed in earlier days to describe the wearing 
of the priestly ephod generally. Seeing that the ephod 


was not a common garment, but one solemnly put on _ 





for_a sacred purpose, the use of an unusual word is 





entirely natural. 

Let us now consider the two narratives in Judges 
about Micah and Gideon, chapters xvii.—xviii. and viii, 
which are supposed to prove beyond a doubt that the 
ephod was an image. 

In the story of Micah as it stands four sacred 
objects are named, ephod, teraphim, graven image, 
molten image. It is, however, claimed that two 
accounts are blended here, and that in the first ephod 
and teraphim are named, whilst the second mentions 
graven image and molten image. Dr. Moore, whose 
analysis we follow, argues strongly that the last word 
is an editorial addition. The word ‘graven image’ 
(pesel) is a general term for idol, ‘molten image’ 
(massekah) is a narrower term meaning an image cast 


oo 


Palestine and its Influences 69 


in metal. Dr. Moore thinks this word was added to 
explain to later readers that Micah’s image was made 
of metal. If so we have the surprising result that 
ephod and teraphim in the first narrative are parallel 
to graven image in the second. The image corresponds 
to the teraphim, Then, presumably, the ephod was 
something else. That it was a priestly vestment used 
in consulting the teraphim is extremely probable. If, 
as the critical editors assert, the second and later 
narrative was written to throw contempt on the 
Northern Israelite sanctuary at Dan, its silence with 
regard to the ephod is understandable. The ephod, 
rightly used, was a legitimate adjunct to worship. 
The quarrel was not with that, but with the use of 
images. It is argued that at any rate Micah counted 
himself a worshipper of Jehovah, and saw no harm in 
the use of images. We do not deny that. But we 
claim that the condemnation passed on his conduct 
represents the view of the pure primitive teaching 
which from the very beginning was always present 
somewhere, and that at any rate his. ephod was not 
an image. 

Turning to the narrative of Gideon in Judges viii. 
we find it asserted definitely that here the ephod must 
have been an image, and that the statement that 
seventy pounds weight of gold was used in its manu- 
facture, as well as the fact that it was ‘set up’ in 
Ophrah, proves this beyond doubt. If this passage 
stood alone we should probably have to accept this 


70 The Witness of Israel 


conclusion, although even then we should observe that 
not only gold but also ‘purple raiment’ was used in 
the making.’ But it is a serious matter to give to 
‘ephod’ in this one place a meaning never demanded 
anywhere else. We know how rich priestly garments 
have often been, A garment heavily laden with gold, 
barbaric in its splendour, might well give a prestige 
rto Gideon’s sanctuary that might attract away the 
worshippers from the simpler shrines. Whether he, 
like Micah, used images as well remains uncertain. 
In all probability he did so, and merited the condem- 
nation passed upon him. 

In closing this discussion we are glad to quote the 
extremely important opinion of Benzinger, certainly 
one of the highest authorities on Hebrew archaeology. 
After pointing out that there is no mention made 
anywhere of sacrifices being offered before the ephod 
or blood brought to it, or prayers made before it, he 
adds— 


According to the customary explanation the oracular 
ephod is a divine image. But in view of the linen ephod 
as the customary official garment of the priests, and of the 
costly ephod of the high-priest, nothing but altogether — 
convincing reasons could justify an altogether different 
explanation of this third (oracular) epbod, especially since 
the high-priestly ephod is certainly no free invention of 
later days. The assumption of a similar form to the high- 
priestly ephod in the case of the oracle satisfies all the 


1 It is worth noting that the robe of the high-priestly ephod was 
of purple.—Exod, xxviii. 31, &c. 


Palestine and its Influences 7i 


places where the old oracle-ephod is named, whereas the 
explanation by means of a divine image does not do this. 
To ‘bear’ divine images cannot be set down as the duty of 
the priests. The image of the god must not be carried 
bout when and where it is needed, but one goes toit.... 
Finally, an ephod, together with the image of God (tera- 
phim) and the pillar (mazzebah) belongs to the equipment 
of a public sanctuary (Hosea iii. 4; Judges xvii. 5). 


The passage just referred to in Hosea—‘ The 
children of Israel shall abide many days . . . without 
sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or 
teraphim ’—does not, as has often been said,? mean 
that Hosea approves the use of all these objects. The 
context makes it plain. The prophet’s adulterous wife, 
in her enforced seclusion, will be deprived of the hire 
of her lovers in which she delighted before. So, in 
the coming Exile, will Israel be deprived of the false 
worship in which evil passion found such sinful 
pleasure. The ephod is not condemned in itself, only 
in its use with the idol images. 

In the article previously quoted Kautzsch goes op 
to argue that in the use of ‘ teraphim’ we have traces 
of images of Jehovah. He regards the teraphim as a 
household god, and judges that in David’s house 
(1 Sam, xix. 13-16) this must have been a represen- 
tation of Jehovah. The fact that this image must 

1 Hebriische Archiologie, p. 347. It is noteworthy that Ben- 
zinger has changed his mind since the first edition of his book. 


See in that edition, p. 382, where he accepts the ‘image’ hypothesis. 
2 e.g, Robertson Smith, Old Testament in Jewish Church, p. 240, 


79 The Witness of Israel 


almost certainly have been of human shape, so as to 
deceive Saul’s messengers, whereas all the undoubted 
instances of images of Jehovah were in the shape of 
bulls, is strongly against this. An extremely interesting 
suggestion is made by Mr. Macalister.1 Speaking of 
Rachel’s theft of her father’s teraphim (Gen. xxxi. 
34, &c.) he says— 


If we may judge from specimens unearthed in consider- 
able numbers at Gezer, the teraphim were small | = 


emphasized, and it is probable that Rachel would ree on 
such figures as powerful prophylactics or amulets for herself 
in the trial before her. Her statement as to her condition 
was in all probability no mere excuse, but perfectly true. 


Mr. Macalister goes on to argue that the narrator 
has misunderstood the real meaning of the incident, 
but has unconsciously preserved the clue to it. He 
thinks this an argument for the extreme antiquity of 
the tradition. In David’s case, therefore, we have the 
survival of an extremely ancient custom, to which his 
young wife, Michal, adhered. But it is quite plain 
that it was not an image of Jehovah. Later passages 
show that this remnant of superstition was afterwards 
banned (cf. 2 Kings xxiii, 24), and that the word 
‘teraphim’ acquired a less limited meaning (ef. 
Ezek, xxi. 21), but we claim that there is nothing 


1 Palestine Exploration Fund, Q.S., 1905, p. 270. Cf. also 
Benzinger, op. cit. p. 329, who speaks of the ‘teraphim’ as images 
of Astarte, and compares with Istar the pitiful mother-goddess, the 
deliverer from curse and sickness. 


Palestine and its Influences 72 


anywhere to contradict our hypothesis that the-pure 
primitive worship of Jehovah was imageless. 

Kautzsch further claims that even in the Book of 
the Covenant (Exod. xxi. 6), there is a reference to an 
image of Jehovah. The passage reads— 


His master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring 
him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master 
shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve 
him for ever. 


Kautzsch explains that this means that the slave 
was to be brought in front of the image of Jehovah, 
which he thinks stood inside the door of every pious 
Hebrew’s house. This is forced and unnatural, the 
obvious explanation being that the ceremony was 
performed at the local sanctuary. This is well illus- 
trated by the Code of Hammurabi, § 281, dealing with 
the case of stolen slaves—‘If they are natives of 
another land, the buyer shall tell out before God the 
money he paid.’ As Mr. Johns remarks on the usage 
in Babylonia, ‘The temple was the chief scene of 
justice. Here men went_to take their. oath at_the 
gate of the temple or before the censer.1’ The LXX 
Rating of the verse in Exodus—‘shall bring him unto 
the judgement of God ’—is therefore no softening down 
of the words in the interest of later orthodoxy, but an 
explanatory enlargement. The variation of the law in 
Deut. xv. 17, where the ceremony takes place at the 


1 DB, v. 5940, 


74 The Witness of Israel 


master’s own house, is due no doubt to the abolition 
of the local sanctuaries. Many actions formerly done 
on sacred ground, as most notably the slaughtering of 
animals for food, were henceforth carried out privately. 
This is only one more instance. 

To this list Kautzsch adds one more when he says 
that the fact that presenting one’s self at the sanctuary 
is spoken of as ‘ beholding the face of Jehovah,’ shows 
that originally men went to the shrine to look upon 
the image of the Deity. The reasoning here seems to 
be confused. The history of language shows that the 
meaning of words develops from the concrete to the 
abstract. It may be that ‘to see the face of a deity’ 
had at first in the history of religion a materialistic 
sense. But we have no proof whatever that this 
meaning was ever present in the pure worship of 
Jehovah. The theory already referred to, that the 
Ark, admittedly as old as Moses, was the throne of 
the God who sat invisible between the cherubim, is — 
a strong witness on the other side. Further, that the 
writer (J.) who declares ‘Thou canst not see My 
face: for man shall not see Me and live, + could have 
meant when he wrote ‘None shall appear before Me 
empty ’2—or, as the critical editors amend it, ‘None . 
shall see My face empty ’—‘ None shall look upon the — 
face of the image of Jehovah empty,’ is unthinkable. 

Looking back over all these passages we are 
justified in asserting that the case for image-worship 


1 Exod. xxxiii. 20. 2 Exod, xxxiv. 20, 


Palestine and its Influences 7si)\s we 


in the pure religion of Jehovah is entirely unproved. ~ \ 


Se 


The way by which this conclusion has been reached 
has involved no special pleading. The difference 
between the method adopted and that of Kautzsch 
is that we have preferred to start from the broad 
historical tradition of Israel, and to examine the 
apparent exceptions in its light; whereas he has 
started from the exceptions, and tried to elevate them 
into a rule. And therefore in spite of the formidable 
list of names that may be quoted on the side of Kautzsch, 
whom we have selected as a typical instance, and as one 
of the most cautious and reverent of scholars, we are 
convinced that the days of this theory are numbered. 
All our results have been obtained with the help of a 
frank acknowledgement of the results of the literary 
analysis of the sources. In some respects we have 
incidentally found corroboration of those results. But 
we repeat that the acceptance of these results and their 
interpretation are two very different things. It must 
be added that to the present writer the defenders of 
this position seem to fail to appreciate the enormous 
gulf between the pure imageless worship of Jehovah 
nd any form of image-worship. It would doubtless 
be replied that as the reality of the one supreme God 
became better apprehended, the need for any symbolic 
representation became less and less, and so, gradually, 
the use of images was entirely discontinued. This, 
however, does not account for the fierceness of the 
invective against the use of images in all the later 





at 


76 The Witness of Israel 


sources, nor the place of the second Commandment in 
“ the Decalogue, on any theory of its origin. The 
cultivated Hindu of to-day disdains the use of images 
as a necessity for his own religious education, but 
pleads for their retention as an aid to the common 
people. How marked the difference is between him 
and the Hebrew teachers! That the Israelite people 
as a whole were always ready to fall away to image- 
worship is shown doubtless by the eagerness with 
which they followed the lead of Jeroboam I, and gave 
themselves up to the abominations sanctioned at his 
shrines. Similarly, while Solomon’s temple was 
imageless, the Ark being the symbol of the divine 
Presence, we have records how, even in Jerusalem, 
the people turned often to baser cults, as in the reign 
of Ahaz or in the adoration paid to the brazen serpent.? 
But the stern hostility of the representative men of 
Israel never ceased. We believe that the only satis- 
fying explanation of this fact is that the knowledge of 
the one true invisible God was deeply burnt into the 
national conscience. Grasped by Abraham centuries 
ago, when he left the stately temples of his home with 
their gorgeous images, reaffirmed by Moses as the 
thunder rolled round Sinai, it was from the fizgt one 
of the great foundation truths of the people that was to 
teach the world how to worship the Father in spirit 
and in truth. 
The structure of Solomon’s temple confirms this _ 
1 9 Kings xvi. 11 midi a 


& 


* 


Palestine and its Influences 77 


result. It was built by foreiom architects; its symbo- 
is ylonianm ideas. The brazem sea, the 






| the five candlesticks right and left of the oracle, even 
| the threefold_division of the temple corresponding 
to the threefold division of the universe,’ are 2 few 
indications how Many conceptions from outside were 
expressed in the building? Yet im the heart of the 
"shrine, in the Holy of Holies, in the thiek darkness, 
| there stood nothing but the ancient Ark; no other 
| 





symbol of the Deity found ifs place there. Jehovah 
dwelt there; it was His house, but He was | invisible. 
Solomon was only too ready to welcome foreign cults 
in his capital, but with regard to the God of Israel the 
purer tradition that came to him through his father 
from Samuel was too strong to be overpassed. 
Criticism again bears witness in our favour by its 
analysis of 1 Kings vii. It is supposed that verses 12 
and 13 contain, m a mutilated text, the dedication 
actually uttered by Solomon. With the help of the 
Greek version it is concluded that the author of 1 Kings 
quoted these words from the ancient Book of Jashar. 
As reconstructed by Cheyne they read— 
The sum hath Jehovah set im the heavens, 
He has resolved to dwell im thick darkness - 
T have built a lofty mansion for Thee, 
A place for Thee to dwell im for all ages. 
Here, then, we have a plain belief expressed that 
© Vide supra, p. 11. ® Vide Benzinger, op. cit. pp. 329 ff. 


no south of the entrance porch, ‘ \ 








78 The Witness of Israel 


Jehovah is the Creator of the universe, and a sense of 
the paradox involved in building a house for Him. 
Yet when the house is built the innermost depths of 
it must be shrouded in the blackest darkness. Jehovah 
deigns to dwell in the midst of His people, but_no- 
Satay as Gu behold Him, or pierce the mystery 
Which Goneodls Haw Bae a mortal gaze. We find 
no explanation of so profound and wonderful a a thought 
that does not reach right back to Moses, 
‘Summarizing the results of this chapter, we see the 
purer faith surrounded, so soon as the people were 
settled in Palestine, by hostile and degrading influences, 
Numberless Canaanitish high places, with all their 
apparatus of pillars and asherahs, were simply taken 
over, and the local deity worshipped under the name 
of Jehovah, In many cases the tendency to syncretism 
overpowered the simpler teaching. Hence the Northern 
Kingdom at its fall lost its spiritual heritage, and 
bequeathed little to the generations that followed. 
But there was always a remnant of those who would 
not bow the knee to foreign influences, and who passed 
on the torch of faith. In succeeding chapters we are 
to trace how this faith was seized by the great prophets, 
amplified, expounded, preserved, until the blossoming 
time came and the Hope of Israel was realized. 


BOOK II 
ANTICIPATION 





CHAPTER I 
THE BEGINNINGS OF PROPHECY 


Prophecy and the future—Anticipations in the earliest sources, 
J. and E.—The prophecy of Nathan—Background of the 
writing prophets—The day of Jehovah—Parallels in Baby- 
lonia, Egypt, &c.—Amos—Moral conditions at his appearance 
—His message of doom—His hope for the future—Hosea— 
Personal history—Period of anarchy in Israel—Two lines of 
hope: (1) The victory of love; (2) The future of the 
kingdom—Conclusion—Certainty of the permanence of God’s 
kingdom. 


HE value of the great prophets of Israel was 
for many years altogether obscured because 


they were interpreted only in the light of the 
future. Forgetting that they were amongst the most 
human of men, with passionate patriotic aspirations 
and warm personal affections, many readers studied 
their writings as though they were books of magic, 
giving in cryptic form all the details of the life of 
Jesus. Hence their books often become barren wastes 
of unintelligible words, relieved here and there by 
some oasis, some evangelic promise bringing comfort 
and refreshment. 
To-day the pendulum has swung to the other 
G 


82 The Witness of Israel 


extreme, and they are often more valued as heralds of 
social reform, sometimes even as teachers of economics, 
than as ‘statesmen in the kingdom of God,’ preparing 
the way of the Lord. 

If anything, this second position is more untenable 
than the first. As Dr. A. B. Davidson has said— 


If any prophetic book be examined .. . it will appear 
that the ethical and religious teaching is always secondary, 
and that the essential thing in the book is the prophet’s 
outlook into the future.’ 


The task of the true expositor is to find a position 
which is, on the one hand, freed from the necessity of 
trying to force minute details into unnatural corre- 
spondences, but which, on the other hand, does not fail 
to show the magnificent sweep of the divine purpose 
fulfilling itself age after age in the history of Israel. 

It is plain that such a position cannot be reached 
by any mere study of the history of the times in which 
the prophets lived. The argument of this book has 
constantly sought to show that none of the great men 
of the Bible can be truly seen, save in the light that 
comes from the past which lies behind him, It is 
because this fact has been so much forgotten that it 
has been possible to represent the earliest writing 
prophets as creators rather than restorers. We must 
therefore, before we can estimate the value of their 
several contributions to the hope of the future, try to 
realize the background from which they started, as 

1 DB. iii, 1194, 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 83 


expressed in the earlier literature and in the popular 
expectations. 

Let us, then, as before, inquire as to the teaching 
of the oldest written sources, J. and E. 

Starting with J. we find in Gen. iii. 15 the great 
promise called the Protevangelium. The writer has 
described the coming of sin into the world, and now 
goes on to speak of the resulting conflict between good 
and evil. It is surely wrong to say, as Wellhausen 
does, that in this writer we find ‘a peculiar sombre 
earnestness, almost bordering on pessimism, as if 
mankind were groaning under some dreadful weight.’ ! 
It is far truer to say that, whilst deeply conscious of 
the fact of sin in human life, his faith enables him 
to look forward to the time when man shall triumph 
and stand upright with his heel upon temptation. 
That man must suffer in the fight, he knows only too 
well, but the issue of the contest is not doubtful. 

Christian faith sees in this hope the promise of the 
Saviour, and sings— 

Rise, the woman’s conquering Seed, 
Bruise in us the serpent’s head. 
or, again— 


O wisest love! that flesh and blood, 
Which did in Adam fail, 

Should strive afresh against the foe, 
Should strive and should prevail. 


This is profoundly true, in that when the battle 
1 History of Israel, p. 314. 


84 The Witness of Israel 


proved too hard for man, the victory was won for him 
by Christ Jesus. But we cannot claim that, when the 
words were first written, they contained this personal 
reference. It is enough for us that, in the pure faith 
of Israel, in this very early expression of it, there was 
this confident anticipation of man’s victory over sin. 
Passing onwards, in the same writer we find the 
blessing of Abraham. Not only are his descendants to 
possess for ever the land of Canaan, but their pros- 
perity is to be so great that ‘through thee shall all the 
families of the earth bless themselves,’ i.e. ‘in blessing 
themselves will use thy name as a type of happiness.’ 
In this translation of Gen. xii. 3 the opinion of most 
modern scholars has been followed that the more 
usual rendering, ‘In thee shall all the families of the 
earth be blessed, cannot be justified. But, as Driver 
remarks, the words, as we have translated them, mean 
that the blessings of Abraham’s posterity ‘ will attract 
the regard of all peoples, and awaken in them the 
longing to participate in them.’ Hence the essential 
teaching remains unaltered. The words reveal Israel’s 
national consciousness that they were a specially 
chosen people, and show their faith in their own 
future. 

Passing on further still, we come to the famous 
‘Shiloh’ prophecy in Gen, xlix.10. We cannot here 
discuss the difficulties of this passage. It seems 
certain, at any rate, that ‘Shiloh’ is not a personal 

1 Genesis, p. 145, 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 85 


name. Perhaps the most probable interpretation of 
the verse is— 
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 


Nor the commander’s staff from between his feet, 
Till he come whose right it is. 


In that case the words look forward to the coming 
of an ideal ruler, in whose rule the sovereignty of 
Judah will be merged. If so the words find their best 
parallel in the expectations of Isaiah. 

It is not needful for our purpose to quote passages 
from the other primitive source, the teaching being 
essentially the same. We may note, however, the 
triumphant assurance of the oracles of Balaam in 
Num. xxiii, and xxiv. Israel is a happy nation 
blessed by its God. 


I behold no misfortune in Jacob, 
I see no trouble in Israel; 
Jehovah his God is with him.! 


Let it be observed that the sense of God’s ethical 
requirements is not absent. In chapter xxv. stern 
penalties are inflicted on the sinful. But the general 
consciousness of special favour, of being a unique 
people, not to be counted with other nations, is strong 
and clear. 

Passing to the Books of Samuel we find in 
2 Sam. vii. Nathan’s famous prophecy of the per- 
manence of the Davidic dynasty. The point of 


1 Num, xxiii, 21, G, B, Gray’s translation. 


86 The Witness of Israel 


Nathan’s promise is that it is not David who shall 
build a house for Jehovah, but Jehovah who shall 
build a house for David. The truth of the whole 
narrative seems self-evidencing. Kittel points out 
with much force that it is difficult to believe that 
anything short of a divine command would have 
hindered David from erécting a sanctuary for the 
sacred Ark, which he had brought with such solemnity 
to his new capital. Granting this, there is no adequate 
ground for refusing to believe that the promise of an 
abiding kingdom was made at the same time. Israel 
under Saul had never been strong enough or united 
enough for the national self-consciousness to find such 
an expression as this. But now, with the Philistine 
terror removed, and the surrounding peoples humbled 
at David’s feet, the hope was given of a line of kings 
standing at the head of Jehovah’s people, related to 
Him as His own sons. When Northern Israel broke 
away from Judah to form a kingdom of its own this 
prophecy was forgotten. But it seems plain that it 
was known to Amos and Hosea, and that it formed 
the starting-point of Isaiah’s glowing hopes. 

Turning now to the prophets themselves, we find 
from their writings that amongst the mass of the people 
there was a widespread expectation of the coming of 
‘the day of Jehovah.’ To this they looked forward 
as the time of their triumphant vindication and the 
destruction of their enemies. This is another of the 

} History of the Hebrews, ii. p. 160, 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 87 


popular ideas which Amos seizes to hurl back in their 


faces. 

Woe to you that desire the day of Jehovah! 

What have you to do with the day of Jehovah ? 

It is darkness and not light... 

Storm-darkness, and not a ray of light upon it.! 
Such words would be meaningless unless Amos were 
dealing with an altogether familiar hope. 

Summing up, then, we find that in the time before 
the writing prophets the Israelites had an assured faith 
in their election to blessing, a bold confidence in their 
own continued prosperity, and an expectation of a 
manifestation of Jehovah which would bring ruin to 
all their foes. Behind this, almost or altogether for- 
gotten, lay the deeper and quieter hope of man’s 
victory over evil, whilst the thought of a continuous 
line of kings of the Davidic dynasty had already found 
expression. 

It is of great interest to compare with this what we 
know of the hopes of other nations. That Israel should 
have believed in its own future is not strange. Many 
other ancient peoples, resting on the prowess of the 
gods they worshipped, have done the same. What is 
unique is that Israel believed itself to be the people 
of Jehovah through His own moral choice, and not 
because of any natural or local tie. He chose Abraham 
because He knew him, and was assured that he would 
teach his family to do justice and judgement.? 


1 Amos v, 18, G. A. Smith’s translation. 
? Gen. xviii. 19, J. 


88 The Witness of Israel 


Similarly the expectation of a Deliverer, which we 
shall find so clearly expressed, is not peculiar to Israel. 
Dr. Oesterley has recently sought to show how the belief 
in a Saviour-Hero, or Heidbringer, who in the past won 
his victory over the watery power of darkness, the 
cruel primaeval monster, and in the future will again 
appear to bring lasting fertility and peace, is almost 
universal.? 

So it has been said of the ancient Babylonian 
teaching, ‘Its characteristic is the expectation of a 
Deliverer coming forth from the Godhead, who in the 
course of ages overcomes the powers of darkness. ? So 
again, Meyer, speaking of Egyptian anticipations, says— 

The fixed scheme is that a wise man proclaims the 
approach of heavy misfortune, the overthrow of all order, 
the conquest of Egypt through foreign peoples, &c.; then 
will follow the deliverance through a righteous king 


beloved of the gods, who restores order and civilization 
and inaugurates a long and prosperous reign.® 


The righteous king is described as ‘Shepherd of all 
men, who has no evil in his heart, and when his flock 
goes astray, spends the day in seeking it.’ This 
expectation was present in Egypt at the very time 
when the Hebrews were dwelling there. If this seems 
strange and startling, let it be remembered that the 


1 The Evolution of the Messianic Idea. 

2 ATAO, p. 5. 

3 Quoted in ATAO, p. 406, from Die Israeliten wnd ihre Nach- 
barstéimme. 

4 Maspero, New Light on Ancient Egypt, p. 231. 


re. 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 89. 


need of some great Helper and the wistful longing for 
a brighter future is deeply rooted in human nature. 
If we can show that this longing comes from God, and 
that Jesus Christ satisfies desires that have sprung to 
birth in many races and in many centuries, we shall 
only have strengthened the claim that He is in truth 
the Saviour of the world. 

Again, the thought of a coming world-catastrophe, 
where with fire and tempest and earthquake the 
present order of things must pass away, has now been 
shown to be extremely ancient. In countries which often 
felt the violence of the devastating forces of nature, 
such a fear could most naturally arise. In his work 
on the origin of the Israelitish eschatology, Gressmann 
argues with great force that this conception was well 
known long before the time of the prophets. Hence, 
as he points out, the claim of Stade and others that 
Zephaniah was the first to introduce the idea of a 
world-catastrophe is altogether improbable. Con- 
sequences of the greatest importance for the dating of 
certain portions of the prophetic writings follow from 
this. But in the meantime it is enough for us to note 
that the true prophets of Israel, seizing this conception 
also, and giving to it an ethical meaning, bound it up 
with the assertion of God’s moral government of the 
universe, and made it serve the one great purpose of 
teaching their fellows to understand Him. Threats 
of coming ruin were no longer to be weapons for 
use against the heathen; rather were they meant to 


5 


90 The Witness of Israel 


be solemn warnings to all who broke the eternal laws 
of righteousness, especially to Israelites who knew 
those laws best. 

We see, then, that the prophets had behind them 
two series of expectations—those belonging to the 


genuine faith of Israel, and those common to men of _ 


various races. It-is our task to see how, as time 
passed on, they brought out of such conceptions the 
loftier truths that God revealed to them. 

For the purposes of this book we start with Amos. 
There is much to be said still for the older view that 
Joel preceded Amos. But as this is so much disputed, 
and as Joel is not essential for the development of the 
argument, we have preferred to leave his little book 
out of the question. 

Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, appeared in Northern 
Israel at a time of national prosperity and complacency. 
The long-protracted Syrian wars were over, and the 
territory of Israel extended farther than it had done 
since the great days of Solomon. Israel was again 
mistress in her own land, supreme above the heathen 
tribes that surrounded her. Nor were the people slow 
to pay their dues to the God whom they claimed as 
their own. At the royal shrine at Bethel, before the 
golden bull-shaped image of Jehovah, a gorgeous ritual 
was celebrated. The worshippers were many and 
zealous. No shadow of doubt seems to have crossed 
their minds that the good fortune they enjoyed was 
due to the favour of Jehovah. Forgetting altogether 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 9! 


the strongly ethical requirements of their oldest code 
of laws, the Book of the Covenant, with its exaltation 
of pity and brotherly kindness, and its care for the 
poor and the distressed, they exhausted their religious 
sentiments in costly sacrifices and punctilious ritual, 
Meantime the poorer classes, upon whom the calamities 
of the past wars had fallen most heavily, found little 
satisfaction in the restored national glory. The smaller 
yeomen of Israel, whose farms had been overrun and 
ruined by the Syrian invaders, had been compelled 
to sell their patrimony, and were now landless and at 
the mercy of the capitalists. They were treated with 
a callous harshness which shows how entirely divorced 
from morality the religion of their oppressors was. 
Even the priests, bound by sacred duty to be the 
champions of the helpless, were corrupt and dissolute, 
allies of the brigands who robbed the pilgrims as they 
travelled to the shrines! History has often been 
misread, but surely never more fatally than by those 
who claimed that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and 
of Jacob, was pledged to defend a community such as 
this. 

Upon such scenes the voice of Amos broke forth 
like a peal of thunder. He held, with unshaken faith, 
that all things in heaven and on earth are controlled 
by the one supreme God, Jehovah of Hosts. It is He 
who can darken day with night and shake the solid 
earth. It is He who has appointed to each nation its 

1 Amos iy, 4-5; vy, 10-11 et passim; Hosea vi. 9, &e. 





92 The Witness of Israel 


home, bringing the Philistines from Caphtor and the 
Syrians from Kir, even as He brought up Israel from 
Egypt.! And this God, whose voice has come to him, 
whose message he cannot but declare, is no abstract 
power, but a strong, living, holy Person, to whom 
every man and every nation? must answer for his 
doings, who must punish all inhumanity and wrong. 
Hence he draws the inevitable conclusion—Israel must 
perish, the state must be destroyed.2 So soon as the 
moral tie which bound the people to its God had been 
broken, Israelites were no more to Jehovah than the 
Moors.‘ So, on the great feast day at Bethel, silencing 
with the strains of the funeral dirge the exultant songs 
of the priests, he declared, as though it were already 
an accomplished fact— 

Fallen, to rise no more, 

Is the virgin of Israel! 


Stretched on the ground she lies; 
None to uplift her.® 


In vision he saw the hoped-for day of Jehovah as 
already come; but it had come with shattering violence 
and destroying force, and left the people buried beneath 
the ruins of their own temples. 

What, then, of the hope for the future? Did Amos 
see beyond the gloom the dawning of a brighter day ? 
As the book now stands he did. He saw that in the 
sieve of war and exile the true wheat was to be 


1 Amos iy. 13; ix. 7, &c. 2 Amos i., ii. passim, 
3 Amos vii. 7-9. 4 Amos ix. 7. 5 Amos y. 2, 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 93 


innowed out from the worthless rubbish in which it 
was hidden, and the nation, starting afresh, was to be 
crowned with divine favour! Most modern scholars 
consider these verses to be a later addition. Dr. G. A. 
Smith, who calls these closing verses ‘a very pleasant 
piece of music, as if the birds had come out after the 
thunderstorm, and the wet hills were glistening in 
the sunshine, ? concludes that they cannot be by Amos 
because 





all these prospects of the future restoration of Israel are 
absolutely without a moral feature... . To me it is im- 
possible to hear the voice that cried, Let justice roll on like 
waters and righteousness like a perennial stream, in a perora- 
tion which is content to tell of mountains dripping with 
must, and of a people satisfied with vineyards and gardens.° 


The argument is not decisive. To Amos the God 
who worked in history and in nature was one. To him 
- fruitfulness meant the divine favour, which, in its 
turn, meant the reign of righteousness. Hence, while 
he could not see what the new society that was to 
grow from the ruins of the old would be like, and does 
not attempt to describe it, he may have seen, ‘like 
distant mountains, misty and unreal in the golden 
light of evening, the miracle of God’s mercy.’ So he 
speaks of the restoration of the fallen hut of David, of 
the restored dominion of Judah, and the permanence — 
of its kingdom, turning back to Nathan’s prophecy. 


1 Amos ix, 8-15. ? In loco, p. 1938. 
3 Ibid. pp. 194-5. 





94 The Witness of Israel 


But whether that was so or not, whether he died with 
clouded eyes or saw the promise and hailed it from 
afar, he has left behind him an imperishable monument, 
and remains for ever one of the grandest figures in 
human history. 

We breathe another atmosphere as we open the 
Book of Hosea. In the years that followed the ministry 
of Amos, whilst his prophecies were unfulfilled and 
the prosperity of Israel still unshaken, there was being 
wrought out in an obscure home in Samaria a sordid 
tragedy which was to make the man who suffered most 
by it one of the great spiritual teachers of our race, 
We have learnt to read in the first three chapters of 
Hosea the story of the wreck of his own family happi- 
ness, of the awful desolation that came to him when 
he knew that the wife of his youth had proved faithless, 
the spiritual autobiography of the heart which, ‘ through 
the anguish of its outraged human love has won its 
way to the secret of the love divine.’ ! 

In the chapters that follow, written after the death 
of Jeroboam II, we see the reflection of the terrible 
/ years of anarchy that went before the final downfall 

of the Northern Kingdom. Jeroboam’s successor, 
Zechariah, was murdered after a six months’ reign, 
it may be during the drunken revelry of his birthday 
feast.2, In another month the usurper had himself 
been slain, and his adherents visited with terrible 


1 Findlay, Books of the Prophets, vol. i. p. 159, &e, 
2 Hosea vii. 3-7. 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 95 


chastisements.! The new king only maintained. his 
position by becoming tributary to Assyria. As has 
been said— 


For brief moments, when the darkness is torn by a 
lightning flash, we behold phantom kings, involving the 
nation in yet more hopeless misery by a useless policy of 
unprofitable alliances, and then the gloom closes in again, 
and we see no more; but in the darkness we hear the clash 
of arms and shrieks of despair, while streams of blood tell 
their own story of another tragedy round the throne, which 
has once more been seized by an ae adventurer.” 


own heart and home, | Hosea ae and worked. ‘We 
have to ask what were his hopes and anticipations of 
the future. In the first place, we cannot doubt that 
he, to whom the love of God was so much, who had 
learnt to see in his own unquenchable love for his 
sinful wife the dim reflection of God’s everlasting love 
for His rebellious people, believed in the final victory 
of love. He saw how inevitable was the Exile, but yet) 
believed that through the discipline of captivity, Israel 
would be purged from her sensuality and wickedness, | 
and led back to the all-pitiful, all-holy God, who had 
in the days of old called the people out from Egypt. 
Hence the perfect passage— 

Therefore, lo! I am to woo her, and I shall bring her to the 


wilderness, 
And I will speak home to her heart. 


1 2 Kings xy. 16, 
* Edghill, Hvidential Value of Prophecy, p. 59. 


96 The Witness of Israel 


And from there I will give to her her vineyards, 

And the Valley of Achor for a door of hope. 

And there she shall answer Me as in the days of her youth, 
And as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 


So at the close of the book, where restored nature 
is to gladden the hearts of the penitent people turning 
back to God for healing and full satisfaction, the 
triumphant hope bursts through.? Hosea’s conception 
of the love of God has no trace of weakness or senti- 
mentality. He knew, if ever man did, ‘how awful 
goodness is,’ how all real love has in it a terrible 
element of sternness. But he could not believe that 
the age-long purpose of God’s redeeming love had 
finally failed, and so, in the midst of the wreckage of 
home and state, he was comforted by visions of the 
brighter day. 

It must be stated that many modern scholars reject 
all these passages, and consider that to Hosea the future 
offered no picture but that of unrelieved gloom. We 
cannot but think, however, that the reasons for such 
judgements are in many cases subjective and arbitrary. 
The frequent transitions of thought from threatenings 
of utter ruin to gleams of hope are far more true to his 
own self-revealed history and temperament than any 
steady consistency. 


Indignation and sorrow, tenderness and severity, faith 
in the sovereignty of Jehovah’s love, and a despairing sense 


1 Hosea ii, 14-15, G, A, Smith’s translation. 
? Hosea xiv. 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 97 


of Israel’s infidelity, are woven together in a sequence 
which has no logical plan, but is determined by the battle 
and alternate victory of contending emotions; and the 
swift transitions, the fragmentary unbalanced utterance, 
the half developed allusions, that make his prophecy so 
difficult to the commentator, express the agony of this 
inward conflict.? 


Dr. G. A. Smith’s opinion as to the epilogue in 
chapter xiv. is that he cannot ‘conceive of the 
possibility of a stronger case for the genuineness of 
any passage of Scripture.’ Dr. Cheyne, on the other 
hand, says that ‘to have added anything to the stern 
warning of xiii. 16 would have robbed it of half its 
force.” Yet surely such a canon of judgement would 
compel us to cast aside in the same manner half the 
utterances of any truly human man who has looked 
steadily on life as it is. 

The second point in Hosea’s anticipations is his 
view of the future of the kingdom. He speaks with 
such fierce contempt of the man-made kings of Israel ? 
that many have thought that he regards the institution 
of the kingship as wrong in itself, a fatal falling away 
from the divine ideal. Accordingly the passage ‘ After- 
ward shall the children of Israel return, and seek 
Jehovah their God and David their king,’? is rejected 
as spurious, and much later in date. But there is no 
adequate reason for this. The kings of Northern 

1 W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel, p. 157, 


2 Hosea viii. 4. 
3 Hosea iii. 5, 


98 The Witness of Israel 


Israel, with their bulls, of whom Hosea says scorn- 
fully, ‘A workman made it, it is no god, ! will pass 
away unhonoured and uunregretted. But, as Kittel 
says— 


If once Ephraim’s worship of God, ‘the calf of Bethel 
and Samaria,’ were recognized as ‘ vanity,’ a prophet’s love 
of his fatherland could not hinder him from casting his 
eye towards Jerusalem and its Temple. Judah and Jeru- 
salem appeared to him clothed in fresh splendour, and their 
House of David in its security, which defied the centuries, 
stood exalted high above the kingdom of Ephraim, which 
was slowly consuming itself.’ 


If the two pictures of the future hardly blend, in 
one case no king but Jehovah, His infinite compassion 
alone overshadowing and surrounding the land, in the 
other case the rightful dynasty again established in its 
power, we need not stumble at this. It is enough to 
say that ‘the name of David is the historical symbol 
of a united Israel,’ and to believe that now one and 
now the other ideal filled the plane of Hosea’s vision. 

These conclusions are much strengthened by the 
considerations of the first part of this chapter. If it 
is true, to quote Ed. Meyer again, that ‘the schemg 
(of the prophetic preaching), including that of the , 
Messianic future, is not something created by Amos — 
or Isaiah, but a transmitted inheritance,’ then we have 
an additional argument of great weight for the early 


1 Hosea viii. 6. 
2 History of the Hebrews, ii. 327-8. 


vy 


The Beginnings of Prophecy 99 


date of these passages. It would have been more 
surprising if the prophets had ignored these popular 
conceptions altogether. Certainly it becomes almost 
impossible to maintain, as has often been done, that 
Isaiah created the figure of the Messianic king. We 
see once more the familiar phenomenon. The hopes 
and desires that spring from the needs of human 
nature are taken and expounded and made to carry 
the message of revelation. All these— 

August anticipations, symbols, types 

Of a dim splendour ever on before 

In that eternal circle life pursues, 
were now beginning to declare their real meaning, 
pointing onwards to the coming brightness. This 
through all the centuries was the Witness of Israel. 

If, now, we summarize the work of these two 
prophets, we find it in two main directions. (1) With 
startling clearness they expounded the real nature and 
claims of the God of Israel, whom Amos in particular 
showed to be the one supreme Ruler in heaven and 
onearth. Against all defiling and degrading influences, 
all lowering of Jehovah’s worship to the level of that 
of Canaan, they strenuously protested. The righteous, 
oly, awful God, the God of infinite pity yet inflexible 
justice, is so revealed that we bow the head and worship 
as we read, (2) They carried on the hope that the 
knowledge of this one God was to be preserved in 
the people whom He had chosen, which should not 
finally pass away, but remain as His kingdom on 










earth, and so prepared the path for the thought 


imperishable universal kingdom of God towards y 
owe still are striving. 
That was their place in the history of religion, an a® 
faith can hold with ever firmer assurance that mag 
were inspired by the one great Spirit of Truth. 





CHAPTER II 
THE COMING OF THE ASSYRIANS 


The call of Isaiah—Its significance—Outline of Isaiah’s career— 
The coming of the Assyrians—Consequent widening of his 
horizon—Future hopes : (1) Kingdom with centre at Jerusalem ; 
(2) Kingdom for a remnant only; (3) Established by the 
Messianic King—Authenticity of the Messianic passages— 
The mountain of the Lord’s house—Micah of Moresheth-Gath 
—Contrast with Isaiah—Hatred of city life—Denunciation of 
Jerusalem—Hope for the future—The Deliverer from Bethle- 
hem—The city made a garden-city—Relation between these 
prophecies and their fulfilment. 


BOUT the year 740 B.c., during the closing 
A period of Hosea’s ministry, there came to a 
young man at Jerusalem one of those experi- 
ences which have been epoch-making not only for their 
recipients but for humanity. Jsaiah stood in the outer 
court of the temple, wrapt in thought, looking wist- 
fully towards that holy place consecrated to the unseen 
presence of the God of Israel. All around him thronged 
the worshippers with their costly offerings, spreading 
forth their hands in prayer, claiming as their right the 
favour of their God. In his ears were the familiar 
sounds of the temple daily ritual. 


+ ‘eee bd ee 
SRR Pee 
B: 


102 The Witness of Israel 


Presently, as he gazed, all external sights and 
sounds seemed to pass away. A far-off strain of 
unearthly music filled the air. The veil seemed to 
lift, and in the holiest of all he saw the likeness of a 
kingly throne, with One sitting upon it whose train 
filled the temple. Around Him were the angel hosts 
singing in ceaseless adoration— 


Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts. 
All that fills the earth is His glory.! 


‘At that sound the temple trembled, and, while the 
thick clouds of incense hid that glorious throne, a 
hopeless sense of unworthiness and helplessness filled 
the young man’s soul. He saw as never before the 
sinfulness of his people, the careless nobles steeped in 
luxury, the court absorbed in gaiety and pleasure, the 
down-trodden and oppressed poor, the death of all true 
patriotism and willingness to serve, the reign of in- 
justice. Deeper still he felt the shame of his own 


| share in public wrong-doing, saw in that awful light 
_ the evil of his own heart, and prostrated himself in 


utter penitence. Then, purified and restored, he dared 


_ to answer the divine challenge and go forth as a 


prophet. 

We have described at length this familiar scene 
because of its extreme importance in the history of 
Israelitish thought. The most radical criticism of the 
Book of Isaiah, as represented by Duhm, leaves this 


1 Isa. vi. 3. 


The Coming of the Assyrians 103 


chapter practically untouched. We stand here upon 
solid ground. But if such thoughts as these were 
possible only a few years after the time of Amos—such 
teaching about the lofty, unapproachable grandeur and 
holiness of the God of Israel—it is surely impossible 
to hold that till Amos came Jehovah was little more 
than a tribal God, o ‘a tribal God, one amongst many. Isaiah demands 
imperatively a far deeper background than this. His 
faith is the flower from seed-thoughts about God, and 
from experiences of His living Presence, which had 
never been wanting in the highest souls from the days 
of Abraham onwards. 

It lies beyond the scope of this work to trace the 
course of Isaiah’s forty years’ ministry. He saw the 
recrudescence of Assyria as a military power, and the 
triumphant campaigns of her warrior kings, from 
Tiglath-Pileser III to Sennacherib, He saw the 
fulfilment of the prophecies of Amos, when Syria and 
Northern Israel, after vainly uniting themselves against 
Judah, were in turn overrun and destroyed by the 
all-conquering armies. He heralded, in words that 
sound like the tramp of marching hosts, the coming 
of the Assyrian into Palestine— 


Behold, hastily, swiftly he cometh; there is no weary 
one nor straggler among them; none that slumbers, none 
that sleeps; the girdle of his loins is never loosed, nor the 
thong of his shoes torn: whose arrows are sharpened, and 
all his bows bent; his horses’ hoofs accounted as flint, and 
his wheels like the whirlwind; a roar hath he like the 





104 The Witness of Israel 


lion’s, he roareth like the young lions, growling and catch- 
ing the prey, and carrying it off, and none can deliver.’ 

He stood by the side of the faithless Ahaz and of the 
well-meaning but ineffective Hezekiah, bidding them 
put their trust in the omnipotent Jehovah. Shut up 
with Hezekiah ‘like a bird in his royal city,’ he watched 
Sennacherib’s hosts laying waste the cities of Judah, 
and dared still to believe that Jerusalem would be 
saved. And at last he saw that haughty army, wasted 
by pestilence, retreat to its own land, and knew that 
God had fulfilled His promise. It was a life crowded 
with incident, in which he drank to the full the cup 
of human experience, in which he risked all and won 
all for his faith, 

Our present task is to draw out the contribution 
which Isaiah made to the hope of the future, his share 
in that witness which Israel was always bearing to the 
coming glory. 

Two thoughts lie at the base of Isaiah’s hopes—that 
of the universal kingdom foreshadowed in Amos and 
flosea, and that of the permanence of the House of 
at os cee an ee ee of Nathan. The 
aE aT Lis Gan Hine exe 5 SO expanded 
meaning to the first of these. The world that Amos 
saw was made up of a number of little kingdoms 
bordering Palestine. The judgement he foretold was 
to fall on Syria, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. 
Beyond the: these e peoples lay, it is true, Assyria and Egypt, 

iy, Se, 





The Coming of the Assyrians 105 


but the thought of them hardly entered into his mind. 
Amos’s prophecy of the fall of Israel was not due to 
superior political insight which revealed to him the 





with his own eyes the attempt of the rulers of Nineveh 
to found a world-empire, saw people after people fall 
before their resistless onslaught, saw Judah itself a 
vassal state to Assyria, saw the day when the hill- 
fortress of Jerusalem with its temple was the only 
part of Palestine on which the invader’s foot had not 
been set. Here, indeed, was a problem for faith! But 
Isaiah’s faith never failed. Whilst Ahaz, dazzled by 
the brightness of the Assyrian victories, paid homage 
to their gods, and sought to conciliate the masters of 
the world by servile imitation of their customs, Isaiah 
claimed that all their power was given to them by 
Jehovah for His own wise purposes. Assyria was His 
tool, the rod of His anger.’ For all its proud boasting 
and insolent violence it would some day have to answer 
to Him. Presently He would put His hook in its nose 
and His bridle into its lips, and drag captive the 
savage monster which for a season had been allowed 
to triumph.? Hence the facts of history which staggered 
others, shattering their trust in Jehovah, and leaving 
them at the mercy of all strange superstitions, only 
confirmed his first trust in the Holy One of Israel. In 


1 Tsa, x, 5, &e. 2? Isa, xxxvii, 29, 





106 The Witness of Israel 


the face of all denial, in hope believing against hope, 
he knew that God lived and reigned. 

How, then, was this kingdom to be made manifest ? 
It was to be revealed with its centre at Jerusalem. 
There were times when this belief seemed to be cast 
aside. Once Isaiah speaks of the day coming for 
Jerusalem when ‘down to Sheol goes her pomp, and 
her tumult, and her uproar, and all that is jubilant in 
her’; and, again, of the time when ‘the palace is 
forsaken, the tumult of the city is a solitude? But 
more and more as the years went on the conviction 
grew within him that Jerusalem, Jehovah’s altar-hearth, 
must remain inviolable. This one spot on earth where 
Jehovah was truly worshipped, where His sacred shrine 
was standing, could not pass into the hands of His 
enemies, ‘As little mother-birds hovering, so will 
Jehovah of hosts cover Jerusalem; He will cover and 
deliver it: He will pass over and preserve it.’? We _ 
know how this faith was vindicated when Sennacherib 
went home again and left the | city uncaptured. 


Ge Bit neaondly ae this capital only the purged 


remnant of the people would remain. Isaiah, just as 
Amos, was assured that the day of Jehovah would 
bring no deliverance to any one just because he was 
an Israelite. To him Jehovah was the devouring fire, 
the everlasting burnings, purging away in His fiery 
trials all the impious, the blood-stained, the covetous 








1 Tsa. v. 14. ? Tsa, xxxii. 14, 
3°[sa. XXXi, 0D. 


The Coming of the Assyrians 107 


and unjust.1 But as he found a few in Jerusalem who 
received his message and followed his guidance, he saw 
in them the nucleus of the coming nation to whom 


Jehovah—would—bevracious, from whom no longer 
should therTercher hide Himself, but ‘thine eyes 
shall see thy Te thy Teacher, and thine ears shall hear a word 
behind thee, saying, This is the way; walk ye in it.’? 
A purged remnant in a saved and restored 
Jerusalem—that was Isaiah’s hope. How, then, could 
this come to pass? The answer brings to us Isaiah’s 
sreatest contribution to the hope of the future, his 
picture of the Messianic king. In the early years of 
his ministry, whilst the memory of the divine call was 
still fresh, he met Ahaz terrified at the joint invasion 
of Judah by the kings of Israel and Syria. Scornfully 
calling these rulers ‘the two fag-ends of smoking logs,’ 
all but burnt out, with no more power to hurt than 
a charred stick, he called on the descendant of David 
to trust in Jehovah alone. With hypocritical excuses 
the king put off the prophet, resolved already that in 
an Assyrian alliance alone lay any hope of deliverance. 
As Isaiah turned indignantly away there broke in 
upon his soul the great hope of a brighter future. In 
the near future should be born a Child whose glorious — 
name shouldbe Immanu- el—with us is God. In his 
youth he should suffer privations. Ina land desolated 
by war he must live on the plain fare of a nomad, 
‘curds and honey shall he eat.? But his presence 


1 Tsa, xxxili, 14, &e. ? Isa, xxx. 19-21. 3 Isa, vii. 


108 The Witness of Israel 


with the people should be the pledge of God’s pro- 
tection, all the plots of their enemies must fail. 





Rage, ye peoples, and be dumbfounded ; 

And hearken, all distant parts of the earth: 

Gird yourselves, and be dumbfounded ; 

Gird yourselves and be dumbfounded. 

Plan a plan that it may be destroyed; 

Declare your purpose that it may not stand: 
For—Immanu-el (with—us—is—God).! 

It is much disputed whether the child Immanuel 
is the Messianic king, or only the type of the pious 
generation over whom that king should rule. If 
Immanuel is the king, then, as Kittel says, ‘ The hour 
in which Isaiah parted from Ahaz gave to the world the 
thought of the Messiah. * But we are left in no doubt 
as to the meaning of chapters ix. and xi. While the 
tumult of the captains dies away, and the blood-stained 
garments and weapons are fuel of fire, there comes the 
Hero-prince, whose name is ‘Wondrous Counsellor, 
Hero-God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace. He 
comes, a second David, endowed with all the fullness 
of the Spirit, to bring in a reign of righteousness and 
peace. At his coming the discords will cease, the 
peace of paradise will return, and while wrong and 
hurtful violence are rooted out, ‘the earth shall be full 
of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the 
sea.’2 Of recent years a formidable number of scholars 
have denied these utterances to Isaiah, and sought to 


1 Isa, viii. 9-10; see Whitehouse, in loco. 
2 History of the Hebrews, ii. 346. 
3 Tsa, xi, 1-9, 


The Coming of the Assyrians 109 


explain them as post-exilic. It is argued that the 
conceptions are too political, too little religious for the 
prophet of faith who despised all material aids; that 
they presuppose a time when no descendant of David 
was on the throne; that the references to the endow- 
ment of the Spirit and the peace of nature presuppose 
the writings of Ezekiel and the author of Isaiah 
xl.-ly., and so forth. 

Paul Volz, one of the most thorough-going advocates 
of this position, claims that even if the prophets of this 
period had hopes for the future it would have destroyed 
the effect of their preaching to have declared them. 
‘The prophecy of the eighth and seventh centuries is 
not Israel’s consoler, but its living conscience.’ Further, 
whilst the hope of the Messianic king is admitted to 
be the direct consequence of the thought of the 
theocratic kingdom, he argues that this was the popular 
as opposed to the prophetic conception. The true 
prophet knew no king but Jehovah, and desired none. 
Hence this hope of the king was dragged into their 
teaching by the later prophets, an unfortunate inheri- 
tance from the unspiritual expectations of the people. 
In his later work Dr. Cheyne is in substantial 
agreement with this. 

But the answer is now plain. The hope in a 
coming king, just as the hope in a coming ‘Day,’ 
formed part of those deep-rooted human longings 
which, as we have seen, were present in many different 


1 Volz, Die vorexilische Jahweprophetie und der Messias. 





110 The Witness of Israel 


peoples, and which contained truths which the future 
was bound to justify. Neither Isaiah, nor any other 
man of his period, could cut himself loose from his 
environment, and build a future altogether out of 
relation to the present. It was the task of the 
prophets to fill these thoughts with moral meaning, 
and use them to strengthen their own teaching. That 
the task of the King as presented in these chapters 
coincides with the twofold work to which Isaiah’s life 
was consecrated—the deliverance of Judah from the 
Assyrian power which had destroyed Northern Israel, 
and the establishment of a pure civic and national life 
among the people of Jehovah—is a convincing proof 
that these passages come from him. He does not write 
as though David’s throne was empty, and we know 
how loyally he worked with and served Hezekiah; but 
he looks away beyond these weak and spiritless kings, 
and dreams of the strong man who is to come, the man 
who in his Godlike force of character shall be ‘as an 
hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the 
tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land.’? It is 
therefore possible to hold with the utmost confidence 
that this picture of the King to come formed the 
loftiest vision which Isaiah saw. It was the necessary 
completion of his earlier teaching about the inviolable 
city and the purged remnant. Its absence would have 
been far more astonishing than its presence. 


1 Tsa, xxxili, 1-2. 


The Coming of the Assyrians II! 


To complete this brief sketch of Isaiah’s hope 
one other passage must be referred to, the well-known 
prophecy of the mountain of the Lord’s house in 
chapter ii. The fact that this prophecy, in somewhat 
altered form, occurs also in Micah iv. has given rise to 
almost interminable discussions as to its author. With- 
out attempting to outline these, it must suffice to say 
that to the present writer the view advocated by Duhm 
seems the most probable. Duhm considers that this 
was the swan-song of the prophet, sung in his old age, 
not for the public, but for his disciples and the faithful 
few. That is a wonderfully attractive picture. Isaiah 
was no timid, shrinking spirit. The call to arms had 
in the past rang through his soul like the note of a 
trumpet; he had often spoken with fierce enthusiasm 
of warlike deeds.! But now he looks away to a peace- 
ful future. Lifted, in blessing and prosperity, high 
above the nations, with the ancient promise fulfilled— 
‘In thee shall all the nations of the earth bless them- 
selves’—Israel draws to itself and its God the wondering 
homage of all peoples. The thought of the conversion 
of the heathen is not yet present. Its absence is one 
of the surest signs of the early date of the passage. 
But we cannot but marvel at the way in which, 
surrounded by so much that was discouraging and 
deadening in the external history, faith soared so high, 
and, as from the mountain-tops, hailed the coming 
dawn. 


1 Tsa, xxx. 27 fi.; vy. 26 fi.; xviii. 1 ff.; see Duhm, in loco, 





I12 The Witness of Israel 


Whilst Isaiah was doing his work in Jerusalem, 
another prophet, forming in many respects an exceed- 
ingly strange contrast to him, arose in the lowlands of 
Judah, near the country of the Philistines. Micah of 
Moresheth-Gath began his ministry whilst the crash 
of the fall of Samaria was still sounding in men’s ears, 
and whilst the Assyrian armies were threatening to 
overrun Judah also. In none of the prophets does the 
fire of indignation against social wrong-doing burn 
more fiercely. Micah is a countryman, and to him 
the city is the home of all that is evil. ‘There dwell 
the rich who suck the blood and tear and eat the flesh 
of the poor, who drive the small proprietor from his 
ancestral home and add his little farm to their great 
estates.!_ Micah, as has been pointed out, is in the line 
of those Old Testament writers who see no promise 
in the building of great towns, who make Cain the 
murderer the founder of the first city, who set forth 
the building of Babel as an act of impious rebellion 
against God, who show the patriarchs leaving Ur and 
Haran, cities of immemorial antiquity, to live in 
tents.2 Hence, fully conscious of his own inspiration, 
declaring— 

I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah 
To declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sin,? 
he proclaims, ‘Therefore shall Zion for your sake be 


1 Micah ii, and iii, passim. 

2 Gen. iv. 17; xi. 4, 31; xii. 4. See Kleinert, Die Profeten 
Israels in sozialer Beziehung, p. 63. 

3 Micah iii. 8. 


The Coming of the Assyrians 113 


plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, 
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a 
forest.’! To Isaiah the future was assured by the con-_ 
tinued safety-of Jerusalem; to Micah the inevitable 
justice of G “God made it certain that Jerusalem must 
fall. No more instructive warning to us to expect the 
fulfilment of prophecy not in the letter but in the 
spirit is to be found in the Old Testament than in 
these opposing views of Isaiah and Micah. 

But had Micah, then, no hope for the future? A 
different spirit breathes through the last four chapters 
of the book that bears his name, and many assert that 
these sayings are post-exilic, So Cheyne says: ‘In no 
part of chapters iv. to vii. can we venture to detect the 
hand of Micah’ ;? and Marti arrives at the incredibly 
late period of the 2nd century B.c., long after, as we 
think, the prophetic canon had been closed, as the time 
of the final composition of the book. Nevertheless, 
Marti admits, speaking of chapter iv. verses 1-4, and 
chapter vi. verses 6-8— 


How admirably both these deep and high sayings suit 
as an addition to the book of the prophet, who had so 
pure and fine a sense for ethical obligations, need not be 


said.’ 

We may safely go further and ally ourselves with those 
who hold that, in the main, chapters iv, and v. are 
Micah’s own work, and that chapters vi. and vii., 


1 Micah iii, 12. ? E. Bi, 3074. 
+ Das Dodekapropheton, p. 263, 


I 


114 The Witness of Israel 





though most likely written later—in the dark days of 
Manasseh—may well be the witness of his old age. If 
so, the book reflects one man’s experience, first in the 
fiery heat of youth, then in the maturer faith of middle 
life, and lastly in the mellowed faith of old age, 
triumphant even when the sun was setting in violence 
and storm. 

In the central section we find in chapter v. verses 
2-9 the hope of the Deliverer. But this Deliverer was 
not to come from Jerusalem. The dynasty there had 
proved altogether unworthy of its place, and had been 
guilty of the cruel wrongs done to the people. So Micah 
turned back to think of David, the favourite of the 
people, a village lad and a shepherd, himself oppressed 
by a despotic court. Again he said there shall come 
one born among the people, a sharer in their burdens 
and their griefs, to be their peace and to shepherd his 
flock, to deliver the countryside from the cruel Assyrian. 
Could thought conceive a finer rallying cry for dis- 
heartened peasants than this ? 

But what of Jerusalem? After all, countryman 
though Micah was, the city was something to him. 
It was from there that Amos had heard the voice of 
Jehovah sounding out like the lion’s roar over the 
threatened land. It was David’s city, the seat of the 
Ark. There Isaiah had seen his glorious vision. Could 
it remain desolate for ever? We believe the answer 
is found in Micah’s adaptation of Isaiah’s prophecy of 
the mountain of the house. He made it his own, but 


The Coming of the Assyrians = 115 


f 


he added to it the words that speak of every man ea 
sitting under his vine and under his fig-tree. That is ee 
to say, the city is restored, but it has become a garden-_ 
city. As in later days, Zechariah dreamt of the day 
“When ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages with- 
out walls’!—i.e. as open country districts—when its 
only defence should be the protecting presence of 
Jehovah, so here. There are to be no more cities, 
because city and country are one; all the land is city, 
because there are safe and secure dwelling-places 
everywhere. It is only a variation on Isaiah’s idyllic 
picture in chapter xi., a first sketch of the city on the 
banks of the river of life. 

Looking back over the hopes which have been 
described in this chapter, we may so far anticipate the 
conclusion as to ask in what sense they have been 
fulfilled. To the outward eye they were not fulfilled 
in the least degree. Isaiah’s hope of the Messianic 
age was rudely broken, if tradition be true, by a violent 
death. His own words have a tragic significance for 
himself: ‘He looked for judgement, but behold oppres- 
sion ; for righteousness, but behold a cry’ 2—a martyr’s 
death-cry. 

If Micah lived on to Manasseh’s reign, he saw 
Jerusalem delivered from Sennacherib instead of being 
destroyed, saw the wrongs of the peasants intensified, 
listened in vain for the footsteps of the coming Saviour. 
Yet the work for which the prophets were appointed was 

1 Zech. ii, 4-5. ? Isa. v. 7. 


116 The Witness of Israel 


done. They took the Witness of Israel, handed down 
to them by their predecessors, deepened its meaning, 
taught new truths about the God from whom it came, 
and handed on the indestructible faith in His ultimate 
reign and in His final intervention to redeem mankind. ~ 
The changing forms and expressions of their hopes do 
not invalidate this. As Dr. A. B. Davidson says, in 
his golden article on Prophecy, one of the richest of 
all his gifts to our generation— 





Just as some temple of God embodies and expresses 
spiritual conceptions, but is constructed out of materials at 
the architect’s disposal in his own day, which materials 
decay, and in a later age have to be replaced by materials 
of that age, leaving, however, the spiritual ideas still visibly 
embodied ; so the projections of one prophet, constructed 
out of the state of the world, and of the nations in his 
day, decay with the changes of the world, and have to be 
replaced by a later prophet with materials from the world 
of his day. . . . Prophecy is what the prophet in his age 
and circumstances and dispensation meant; fulfilment is 
the form in which his great religious conceptions will gain 
validity in other ages, in different circumstances, and under 
another dispensation. . .. Every prophet speaks of the 
perfection of the kingdom of God, looks for it, and constructs 
an ideal of it. We are still looking for it.’ 


Many to-day, in their anticipations of the future, 
are trying to show us what the perfect state will be. 
We are at least sure that it must be built large enough 
to enshrine the glowing thoughts of Isaiah and of 
Micah. 

1 D.B. iii, 1260, 


CHAPTER III 


THE AGE OF MANASSEH 


Religious reaction under Manasseh—Persecution of adherents of 
Jehovah—Micah vi. and vii.—Composition of Deuteronomy— 
Contrast between Deuteronomy and earlier history—The 
place of sacrifice—Dr. Orr’s explanation of these facts con- 
sidered—Work of the authors of Deuteronomy—Their use of 
the name of Moses—TIllustration from laws of Manu—Theory 
of the loss of the book—Kuenen and Orr on question of 
fraud—Dr. Orr’s own views on the composition of the 
Pentateuch—Summary of teaching of Deuteronomy—Blending 
of prophetic and priestly streams, 


ITH the passing away of Micah and Isaiah, 
we enter upon a period of religious reaction 
in which, to all outward appearance, the 

work of these prophets was undone, and their great hopes 
buried in oblivion. The long reign of Manasseh was pro- 
bably, in its external relations, peaceful and prosperous 
till near its close. By becoming a vassal of Assyria, 
Manasseh was able to secure his kingdom from the 
danger of invasion. Towards the end of his reign he 
appears to have become involved in the revolt of the 
viceroy of Babylon, and to have been taken to Babylon 
to expiate his crime before his suzerain, Asshurbanipal. 


118 The Witness of Israel 


That is the most probable explanation of the account 
of his captivity given in 2 Chron. xxxiii, 11-13.) 

But whatever the political relations of Judah 
during this period may have been, there is no doubt 
that in religion it was a time when many foreign cults 
were welcomed, when even the temple of Jehovah 
became a pantheon. The worship of the host of heaven 
suggests the introduction of the astral religion of 
Assyria and Babylonia. The reference to Baal and 
the Asherah indicates the revival of Canaanitish 
practices with all their abominations. Darker traits 
still are revealed in the mention of dealings with 
familiar spirits and wizards, and of the burning of the 
king’s son in the fire. When we read how ‘ Manasseh 
shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled 
Jerusalem from one end to another, ? it is plain that 
we have the record of religious persecution. Towards 
the close of Hezekiah’s reign the adherents of the 
prophets had begun a reformation. Attempts had 
been made to destroy the sanctuaries where the worship 
of Jehovah had become so corrupted as hardly to be 
distinguishable from heathenism.? These efforts had 
been made in the teeth of popular prejudice, and the 
reformers had now to pay the price of their daring. 
Clearly the rigid adherence to the worship of Jehovah, 
with its stiff rejection of all compromise, formed the 


1 This is the view taken by Cheyne, HE. Bi. 2926, Peake, in 
D.B. iii. 229, is more sceptical as to this narrative. 

2 2 Kings xxi. 16. 

3 2 Kings xviii. 4-22, 








The Age of Manasseh 119 


main obstacle to the assimilation of Judah to the 
surrounding nations. Hence a systematic effort was 
made to crush, once for all, so narrow a view of religion. 
It was a position to which many parallels may be 
found in history. One may almost say that here for 
the first time we see the inevitable result of the 
absoluteness of the claims of the Bible religion. Just 
as in later days the followers of Isis and of Mithra found 
toleration, whilst the Christians were hunted out and 
driven to the lions or the stake, because they alone 
could not consent to live and let live, so here. The one 
religion that could not be tolerated in the city which 
Jehovah had chosen to set His name there, was the 
pure and whole-hearted worship of Jehovah Himself! 

Yet the true faith was not left without witness. 
As we have seen, it is probable that the closing 
chapters of the Book of Micah date from this reign. 
Their writer, whether Micah or another, does not doubt 
that the land is still Jehovah’s. In words of almost 
unexampled grandeur, turning aside with loathing from 
the reeking altars and the murdered children laid as 
victims upon them, he declares the essence of religion : 
‘What doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, 
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy 
God?’ Then, after dark pictures of the commercial 
dishonesty, the cruelty, the shameless injustice and 
treachery of public life, he turns with inextinguishable 
hope to his God— 

1 Micah vi. 8. 


120 The Witness of Israel 


But as for me I will look unto Jehovah, 
I will wait for the God of my salvation: 
My God will hear me. 
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: 
Though I be fallen, I rise again! 
Though I sit in darkness, Jehovah is a light unto me.! 





Through Israel’s gloomiest hour the lamp of faith 
was still burning! 

But we possess a far stronger proof than this of 
the persistence of the true religion in the Book of 
Deuteronomy, which in all probability was the product 
of this age. It is generally admitted that the book of 
the law found in the temple in the year 621 B.c., which 
resulted in the great reformation of Josiah, consisted 
of Deuteronomy, in whole or in part. So Dr. Orr 
concedes, ‘ There is no reason to doubt that the book 
which called forth this reformation embraced, if it did 
not entirely consist of, the Book of Deuteronomy.’? 
The question for criticism to decide is the time at 
which this book was composed. Now, when the laws 
contained in the J. and E. sections of the Pentateuch 
are compared with those of Deuteronomy, it becomes 
clear that the latter presuppose a far more developed 
state of society. The laws of the old Book of the 
Covenant, and the history contained in the earliest 
sections of the Pentateuch, are used as texts on which 
the authors base their exhortations. Declaring the 
fatherly care of Jehovah, who has led His people 
through the great and terrible wilderness, and given 

1 Micah vii. 7. 2 Problem of the O. T. p. 257. 


The Age of Manasseh 121 


them their home in a bounteous and fertile land, they 
show how the love of God, an all-absorbing sense of 
personal devotion to Him, is to be the primary spring 
of human action. All compromise with the idolatrous 
worship of Canaan, all use of the local places of 
worship or religious symbols, is sternly forbidden. At 
one place only is sacrificial worship to be offered to 
Jehovah; all other shrines, throughout the whole land, 
are to be ruthlessly destroyed! It is here, as has been 
already indicated, that the main distinction between 
Deuteronomy and the earlier code appears. In the 
undoubtedly early records of 1 Samuel it seems a 
plain fact that there were many altars to Jehovah. 
Samuel sacrificed at Mizpah (vii. 9), built an altar at 
Ramah (vii. 17), sacrificed on the high place there 
(ix. 12), also at Gilgal (xi. 15), and at Bethlehem 
(xvi. 5). Similarly it is said of Saul in the early days 
of his loyalty, ‘Saul built an altar unto Jehovah; the 
same was the first altar that he built unto Jehovah’ 
(xiv. 35), So in chapter xx. verse 6 there is a most 
natural reference to the yearly sacrifice for Jesse’s 
family at Bethlehem. All this time the chief priestly 
clan was at Nob. Even after the Ark had been taken 
to Jerusalem, Absalom obtained leave of absence to 
sacrifice to Jehovah at Hebron (2 Sam. xv. 7-12), 
Hence the conclusion has been widely drawn that the 
law of the central sanctuary as laid down in Deute- 
ronomy was unknown in these times. It arose when 


1 See especially chap, xii, 


122 The Witness of Israel 


the worship at these local shrines had become so de- 
graded that there seemed no hope of reforming it. It 
was one of the most clearly marked providential stages 
in the purification of the popular idea of God. 

Dr. Orr strenuously resists this conclusion, and 
should be carefully considered as the defender of an 
alternative view. He treats the instances just cited 
as irregularities. He appears to hold that Samuel 
knew the law of the central sanctuary. Thus he says: 
‘Samuel evidently knew something of it as long as 
Shiloh stood; for we read of no attempt then to go 
about the shrines sacrificing’? This is a curious re- 
mark, seeing that the whole narrative of Samuel’s life at 
Shiloh, except the general statement of chapter ill. verses 
20-1, deals with his childhood. But the consequences 
of Dr. Orr’s position must be observed. We must 
suppose that after the destruction of Shiloh a number 
of local sanctuaries were employed for the worship of 
Jehovah. Samuel recognized that this was irregular, 
but accepted it until a time of rest made a return to 
the older system possible. If this really took place, it 
is astonishing that we have not the slightest trace of 
such a change in the histories. Moreover, Dr. Orr 
even goes beyond the statement of an editor of the 
Book of Kings, who remarks: ‘The people sacrificed in 
the high places, because there was no house built for 
the name of Jehovah until those days.’? According to 
this writer, worship at the high places was excusable 

1 Problem of the O. T. p. 178. 2 1 Kings iii. 2. 








— See 


The Age of Manasseh 123 


till the temple had been built. He, at any rate, has 
no thought that the law of the central sanctuary was 
in force till the fall of Shiloh! 

In a similar manner Dr. Orr explains Elijah’s 
lament over the breaking down of the altars of Jehovah 
in Northern Israel from the peculiar circumstances of 
that kingdom.! That can only mean that when, through 
the division of the kingdoms, Northern Israelites could 
no longer go up to Jerusalem, additional altars were 
devoted to the pure worship of Jehovah. Once more 
this is mere assumption, The only sanctuaries spoken 
of after the disruption are the semi-idolatrous ones 
at Bethel and Dan. That there were others, at 
which a purer worship was offered, we hold to be a 
safe deduction from Elijah’s words. But that these 
were irregular, used only because of the political 
relations of the period, finds not the smallest support 
in the Bible narrative. 

Looking back over the passages that have been 
quoted, we can come to no other conclusion than that 
the law of the central sanctuary was altogether unknown. 
Worship at the local sanctuaries is spoken of in terms 
that leave no doubt that this was altogether natural 
and normal. Dr. Orr claims that ‘in no age were 
prophetically minded men the slaves of the mere letter 
of the law,’? and so defends the freedom of Samuel’s 
action. That is true, especially, one thinks, of the 


1 Problem of the O. T. p. 180. 
® Thid. p. 179. 





124 The Witness of Israel 


time before the full development of the law had taken 
place. But that Samuel could have disregarded so 
lightly the urgent and reiterated commands of 
Deuteronomy seems to us to be incredible. 

Tf, then, we agree that Deuteronomy is of later 
date than the prophets whose work we have been con- 
sidering, how are we to account for its origin? Let 
us picture the position of those who had been the 
sharers in Isaiah’s hopes, but who were in Manasseh’s 
reign compelled to watch the destruction of all that 
they held most dear. In spite of all, they never lost 
their faith in the future. In the darkest days they 
believed that God’s kingdom could not be overthrown. 
So on the basis of the earlier sacred writings they 
composed this great book, and waited in confident 
hope that the time would come when it would be 
recognized as the law of the land. 

To the modern Bible reader the main objection to 
this result is that the book appears to consist largely 
of speeches put into the mouth of Moses. He is disposed 
to ask why, if Moses did not utter these discourses, 
they should appear to make for themselves a claim 
which is not true. The real answer to that question 
is found in the difference between ancient and modern 
methods of authorship. In Dr. H. A. Harper’s 
admirable exposition of Deuteronomy an extremely 
interesting illustration is given. ‘Among the sacred 
books of the Hindus one of the most famous is the 
Laws of Manu. This is a collection of religious, moral, 





The Age of Manasseh 125 


and ceremonial laws much like the Book of Leviticus. 
It is generally admitted that it was not the work of any 
one man, but of a school of legal writers and lawgivers 
who lived at very various times, each of whom, with 
a clear conscience and as a matter of course, adapted 
the works of his predecessors to the need of his own 
day. And this practice, together with the belief in 
its legitimacy, survives to this day. In his Zarly Law 
and Custom (p. 161), Sir Henry Maine tells us that— 


A gentleman in a high official position in India has a 
native friend who has devoted his life to preparing a new 
Book of Manu. He does not, however, expect or care that 
it should be put in force by any agency so ignoble as a 
British-Indian Legislature, deriving its powers from an 
Act of Parliament not a century old. He waits till there 
arises a king in India who will serve God, and take the law 
from the new Manu when he sits in his court of justice. 


There is here no question of fraud. This Indian 
gentleman considers that his book is the Book of Manu, 
and would be amazed if any one should question its 
identity because he has edited it; and he supposes 
that the king he looks for, if he should come in his 
day, would accept and act upon it asa divine authority. 
So strangely different are Eastern notions from those 
of the West. It is legitimate to suppose that this 
Eastern book originated in something of the same 
fashion.’ No more perfect illustration could be found. 
Working on the core of Mosaic teaching which they 


1 Exp, Bible, Deuteronomy, pp. 30-1, 





126 The Witness of Israel 


possessed, the authors of Deuteronomy were led by 
the Spirit of God to write these glowing chapters. 
They used the name of Moses because his work was 
the source of theirs. Through them he being dead yet 
spoke, and the work. for which his life was given was 
preserved. To learn that a book of the Bible was thus 
composed adds to the romance, but does not take away 
from the abiding value of the Scriptures. 

But accepting this account of the origin of the 
book, we have to explain how it came to be lost and 
found again. Many critics, putting the age of the 
book considerably later than we have done, and 
supposing it to have been written just before it was 
found, have suggested that the story of its discovery 
was ‘a pious fraud,’ intended to invest it with a false 
halo of glory. Dr. Orr, again claiming that the most 
extreme views of certain critics are inevitably bound 
up with the acceptance of their more general findings, 
argues that this is the only consistent form of this 
theory of Deuteronomy. He quotes with approval 
the words of Kuenen, who, speaking of the supposed 
origin in the reign of Manasseh, says— 

This is open to the great, and in my opinion fatal, 
objection that it makes the actual reformation the work of 
those who had not planned it, but were blind tools in the 
service of the unknown projector. Analogy is against the 
supposition. And the réle assigned to D. himself is almost 
equally improbable; for he is made to commit his aspira- 


tions to writing, urge their realization with intensest 
fervour—and leave the rest to chance! How much more 


The Age of Manasseh 127 


probable that he and other kindred spirits planned the 
means which should lead to the end they had in view !* 


But these rhetorical sentences do not seem to be 
at all ‘fatal’ to the view we have advocated. Writing 
when the persecution of the faithful worshippers of 
Jehovah was raging, the authors could only lay aside 
their completed work and pray for the day when it 
would be possible to produce it. It lay hidden in one 
of the many temple chambers, whilst its authors, it 
may well have been, went out to swell the number of 
the martyrs. Hilkiah and his allies were no ‘blind 
tools.’ Working towards the reformation of religion 
in the spirit of the traditions of Hezekiah’s reign, they 
found a book in which all that they were aiming at 
was set forth in burning words, a book in which the 
note of divine authority rang out so clearly that no 
one could mistake it. It was to them a most joyful 
encouragement that such a book was found at just 
such a time. The writers of the book did not, as 
Kuenen says, ‘leave the result to chance.’ They left 
it rather to the providence of that God whose working 
they saw so clearly in the history of the past, and their 
faith was triumphantly vindicated. In the story of 
knowledge there are many names of those who have 
laid down the pen and died unhonoured and unrecog- 
nized, leaving it to posterity to crown their work. 
But there is no nobler illustration of such service than 
that of the unknown authors of Deuteronomy. 

1 Kuenen, The Hexateuch, H.T. pp. 219-20. 


128 The Witness of Israel 


It is not possible for us, in this work, to enter more 
fully into the arguments for this dating of Deuteronomy. 
They must be sought in the many expositions of that 
book. But as at the present day Dr. Orr’s book 
is sometimes said to have disposed of all these reasons, 
we add a few quotations in explanation of his own 
position. He says— 


It is not necessarily implied . . . that Moses wrote all 
these laws, or any one of them with his own pen ; or that 
they were all written down at one time; or that they 
underwent no subsequent changes in drafting or develop- 
ment; or that the collection of them was not a more or 
less gradual process; or that there may not have been 
smaller collections, such e.g. as that lying at the basis of 


the Law of Holiness—in circulation and use prior to the 


final collection, or codification, as we now have it.? 
Similarly, with regard to the priestly sections— 


The differences of vocabulary and style . . . give proba- 
bility to the idea . . . of a process of composition, rather 
than of a single author.” 


Again— 


In the collation and preparation of the materials for 
this work (the Pentateuch) . . . many hands and minds 
may have co-operated, and may have continued to co- 
operate, after the master-mind was removed. 


We are a long way here from the old Rabbinic 


1 Problem of the O. T. p. 328, 
2? Thid, p, 340. 3 Thid. p. 369, 





The Age of Manasseh 129 


notion of the Mosaic authorship of the whole Penta- 
teuch save the last eight verses of Deuteronomy. If 
Dr. Orr were to try to separate the work of these 
‘many hands and minds,’ he would himself be driven 
to use some such symbols as the J’s, E’s, P’s, and R’s, 
against which he protests so strongly.1 Dr. Orr is 
concerned to maintain the essential Mosaicity of the 
Law of Israel. We claim that all that is needful for 
this is contained in the position we have defended. 


Deuteronomy [says Dr. Driver] may be described as the 
prophetic reformulation, and adaptation to new needs, of an 
older legislation. It is probable that there was a tradition, 
if not a written record, of a final legislative address de- 
livered by Moses in the steppes of Moab : the plan followed 
by the author would rest upon a more obvious motive, if he 
thus worked upon a traditional basis.” 


Seen in the light of the illustration we have used 
from the Laws of Manu that becomes perfectly clear, 
and enlarges our vision, in that it shows us one more 
of the divers manners in which God spake unto the 
fathers. 

Turning back from this discussion, we have now 
to ask what contributions are made by Deuteronomy 
to the Witness of Israel. The old truths as to the 
One Holy God are reaffirmed with marvellous power. 
The moral claims of Jehovah are asserted and His 
indignation declared against all ignoble practices, 


1 Problem of the O. T. p. 205, &c. 
2 Deuteronomy, p. 1xi. 





130 The Witness of Israel 


whether personal? or social.2 But, above all, proving 
themselves therein to be the spiritual heirs of Hosea, 
the writers declare the tender, compassionate, but yet 
inflexibly righteous love of God. This love is to be 
the ruling thought in the Israelite’s life, and is to 
teach him to be pitiful and forbearing to others. 
With regard to heathen nations, the teaching is severe 
and uncompromising. The thought of their conversion 
is not present. We cannot see how it could be until 
the victory of Jehovah in His own land had been 
assured. With regard to the future, we miss the 
confident anticipations of Isaiah. The writers have 
always the dread before them that the sins of Israel 
will bring their destined punishment. Yet the fact 
that the book could be written at all is the surest 
witness to its authors’ faith in the permanence of the 
kingdom of God. Their deep conviction is that God 
has entered into covenant relationships with His 
people. In later times this became one of the 
ruling thoughts of prophecy, and, as we shall see, 
culminated in the grand hope of the New Covenant. 
One other comment on the teaching of Deuteronomy 
must be made here. In it we see two streams of 
teaching combining, the prophetic and the priestly. 
On the one hand, there is the careful provision for 
the due sacrificial worship at Jerusalem; on the 
other hand, there is the hope of the continual line 
of prophets, into whose mouths the words of Jehovah 


1 Deut. xxii, 5; xxiii, 19; xxiv, 4. 2 Deut, xxv. 16, 


The Age of Manasseh 131 


shall be put, the perpetual teachers of the people.’ 
Hence, more perhaps than any other book of the 
Bible, Deuteronomy prepares the way for the perfect 
religion, where in united worship men find the 
inspiration which sends them out strong to toil in 
that service of humanity which is the service of God. 


1 Deut. xviii. 18. 





CHAPTER IV, 


THE AGE OF JEREMIAH 


The reign of Asshurbanipal—Beginning of the decadence of 
Assyria—The Scythian invasion and Median revolt—Zepha- 
niah—The social conditions—The day of Jehovah—Hope of a 
pious remnant—The call of Jeremiah—His opening prophecies 
of doom—Lessons from his first disillusionment—Success of 
Josiah’s reformation—Nahum on the fall of Nineveh—Defeat 
and death of Josiah at Megiddo—Habakkuk on the emergence 
of the Chaldeans—His victory of faith—Jeremiah renews his 
ministry—Prophecies with regard to the future; (1) Downfall 
of the state inevitable. (2) Restoration of the Davidic king. 
(3) The New Covenant. (4) Hope for the heathen nations— 
Conclusion. 


HILST the Book of Deuteronomy lay hidden ~ 
\ X / in the Temple, and the voices of its writers 

had been silenced in death, prophecy was 

again ‘aroused from its slumbers by the trumpet notes 
of the world’s history.’? At the accession of Josiah, 
639 B.c., the great empire of Assyria seemed to be at the 
zenith of its power. Its last great king, Asshurbanipal, 
was able to boast, ‘during my reign, plenty abounded; 
during my years, abundance prevailed. In many 
respects this king is the most attractive figure in 

1 Cornill. 


The Age of Jeremiah 133 


the long line of Assyrian rulers. A great builder, 
he largely rebuilt Nineveh, adorning his new palace 
with battle scenes, hunting sculptures, and representa- 
tions of animals that in freedom and vigour had never 
been surpassed. In the realm of literature, also, 
Asshurbanipal’s name is held in grateful remembrance. 
In his great library, tens of thousands of clay tablets 
were gathered, containing the choicest treasures of the 
religious and scientific thought of his day, An army 
of scribes was busily engaged in copying and trans- 
lating all that was most precious in the records of 
the past. The king himself was more than a mere 
idle patron of the arts and accomplishments of life. 
He tells us how he 

acquired the wisdom of Nabu, learned all the knowledge 
of writing of all the scribes, as many as they were, and 


learned how to shoot with the bow, to ride on horses and 
in chariots and to hold the reins. 


Yet, whilst the capital was enjoying the brief 
renascence, there are no signs of that true colonizing 
power which alone can permanently hold together all 
the varied elements of an empire founded by conquest, 
Peace was maintained by force; whilst the subject 
peoples remained sullenly discontented, always waiting 
for an opportunity of asserting their freedom. Hence 


the great combination of communities was, strictly speak- 
ing, not an organism. It resembled one of those structures 
which are made up of pieces kept together by a keystone, 
whose natural tendency is to separate rather than unite, 


134 The Witness of Israel 





and whose function is to keep the parts in place, and 
prevent disturbance by unrelaxing pressure exerted equally 
upon them all. A movement of any one of the elements 
brings the uncemented pile to ruins. 


The next generation was to witness this process, to see 
the complete break-up of Assyria, and to hear the 
crash of the downfall of Nineveh. 

It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the 
causes, internal and external, of this startlingly rapid 
downfall. The invasion of Western Asia by the wild 
Scythian horsemen, sweeping tumultuously on, and 
leaving devastation behind them, was doubtless one of 
these. Passing down the western plains of Palestine 
during the early years of Josiah’s reign, they struck 
terror into the Hebrews, though we have no records of 
any assaults made upon Israelite cities. Seeing, how- 
ever, that these raids were over at the latest by 620 B.c., 
they cannot have done more than give the first impulse 
towards disintegration. More important was the rise 
of the young and vigorous nationality of the Medes. 
The tribes that formed this nation had suffered many 
defeats from successive Assyrian rulers. Yet the 
consequence of this was to weld them into a people, 
which, driven on by hatred, was at last able to take 
vengeance on its oppressor and threaten Nineveh 
itself. When, after much hesitation, Nabopolassar 
of Babylon resolved to ally himself with the Medes 
and make common cause against Assyria, the doom 

1 McCurdy, H.P.M, § 809. 


The Age of Jeremiah 135 


of the great empire was sealed. So complete was the 
destruction, that, only two centuries later, Xenophon 
passed close to the site of Nineveh without suspecting 
that he was marching over land where once had stood 
the metropolis of the world. 

For the exposition of the moral causes which are the 
deepest interpretation of history, we must listen again 
to the voices of the prophets of the little hill-state of 
Judaea, as they test all human happenings by the 
standard of their faith. 

Amongst those who witnessed the Scythian raids 
down the western coast-line of Palestine was a young 
man of royal blood, tracing back his ancestry to the 
good king Hezekiah! Zephaniah was one who looked 
out far beyond Jerusalem. He saw Nineveh ‘the 
joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, 
I am, and there is none else beside me.’? He saw the 
Philistine cities, and heard the contemptuous reviling 
of Moab and Ammon against the people and God of 
Israel. Looking nearer home he saw his own country 
filled with the heathen practices and observances of 
Manasseh’s day, whilst the social wrongs of the poor 
were still flagrant. Princes and judges had forgotten 
their responsibilities, and were corrupt and evil. False 
prophets and profane priests disgraced their professions.® 
Hardened men of the world scoffed bitterly ‘at all 
suggestions of an overruling Providence.* In Jerusalem 


1 Zeph. i. 1, 2 Zeph, ii, 15, 
$ Zeph, iii. 3-5. * Zeph, i, 12, 





136 The Witness of Israel 


the cult of Baal and the worship of the host of heaven 
were carried on most openly, whilst some thought to 
better things by worshipping Baal and Jehovah at 
once! As he looked there dawned upon him:a terrify- 
ing vision of the future. ‘The day of Jehovah’ was 
near. It would break upon the world in darkness and 
gloom, in wrath and trouble and distress. ‘That day 
of wrath, that dreadful day, ‘ Dies Irae, Dies Illa, must 
bring ruin and desolation to all mankind.” Even proud 
and careless Nineveh must perish. ‘The whole earth 
shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He 
shall make an end, yea, a terrible end of all them that 
dwell in the earth.’ ¢ 

As has been previously pointed out, this thought of 
a ereat world-catastrophe had been familiar long before 
the days of Zephaniah. He is, however, perhaps the 
first to use it in the name of Jehovah, hence it may be 
said of him, ‘His book is the first tingeing of prophecy 
with apocalypse: that is the moment which it supplies 
in the history of Israel’s religion.’ ® 

We have now to inquire what was Zephaniah’s 
contribution to the hope of the future. We notice at 
once that he had no message as to the permanence of _ 
either king or_city. The city of Jerusalem, defiant, 
polluted, oppressing, must fall, Woe to her!® She had 
disobeyed all voices calling her back to her God, missed 

1 Zeph. i. 4-6. 2 Zeph. i. 15-16, 


2 Zeph. ii, 13-14, ‘ Zeph. i. 18. 
5 G. A. Smith. © Zeph. iii, 1. 


The Age of Jeremiah 137 


the meaning of her chastisements, gone from unbelief 
and mistrust downwards to apostasy.1 Nothing could 
save her now. Isaiah’s belief in her inviolable security 
finds no place here. Similarly there is no mention of 
any king, no thought of a Messianic  deliverer. All 
that the prophet can see is a meek and pious remnant 
who have outlived the storm, who trust wholly in their 
God, and, freed from all their ancient enemies, live in 
peace a e and felicit ity.2 Over them Jehovah Himself will 
reign as King,’ and will dwell in their midst, renewing 
to them His love and rejoicing in their obedience.* 

The picture is very incomplete. It is strange that 
the prophet who was the first to see that Jehovah’s 
judgement must be world-wide, has nothing to say about 
the world-wide expansion of his faith. We are, indeed, 
left altogether uncertain as to the relation between the 
saved Israel and other peoples. All that can be sdid_ 
ig that his was not the task to see far into the future, 
Enough for him to declare his ‘simple and austere 
gospel.’ His predecessors had spoken gracious words ‘ \ 
of hope, promises to make the sins that were scarlet 
and red like crimson white as snow. The answer of 
the people to such offers of forgiveness had been the 
revolt under Manasseh. Now before the promise could 


1 Zeph, iii, 2—a pregnant verse | 

2 Zeph, ii, 3-15; iii, 12-17. 

3 Zeph, iii, 15. 

‘ Zeph, iii, 16-17. It seems almost certain that at least the 
closing verses, 18 ff., belong to a later period. Perhaps all from 
verse 14 do so; but see Driver in The Century Bible. 





138 The Witness of Israel 


be renewed the time of purging must come. Till the 
fundamental duties of religion had been learnt, earnest- 
ness and simplicity of life, humble trust in the God 
who ‘morning by morning brings His judgement to 
light,’ no further message could be given. Zephaniah 
passes away from our sight, of his subsequent career 
we know nothing. Yet often in the midst of the con- 
fusion and wrong of modern life one hears that indig- 
nant voice proclaiming, ‘ Silence for the Lord Jehovah.’ 

The years that followed Zephaniah’s ministry 
witnessed the call and consecration to service of the 
greatest_of all the prophets. Two and a half miles to 
the north-east of Jerusalem lay the village of Anathoth. 
‘Tt is the last village eastward, and from its site the 
land falls away in broken, barren hills to the north end 
of the Dead Sea,’! There, in the year 626 B.c., five 
‘years before the finding of the law-book, Jeremiah 
in early manhood heard the voice that called him from 
his quiet home and bade him go forth as God’s champion. 
It was to Anathoth that David’s priest Abiathar had 
been banished by Solomon,? and as Jeremiah was of 
priestly origin, it may be that he belonged to this 
family, which, as descended through Eli from Aaron, 
cherished some of the proudest memories of Israel’s 
past. However that may be, there can be little doubt 
that from the first Jeremiah had been instructed in the 
pure faith of Jehovah. He lived and moved in the 
history of his people, and was by birth and nurture, as 

1G, A, Smith, HGHL. p. 315, 2 1 Kings ii, 26. 


The Age of Jeremiah 139 


well as by vocation, predestined as the messenger of 
his God, 

There is a striking contrast between the method of 
Jeremiah’s call and that of his great predecessor Isaiah, 
Isaiah, the statesman, turned to the temple, and there 
with eyes unsealed looked upon the majesty of the 
Lord of Hosts, Jeremiah, the countryman, ‘who 
looked on nature with the opened eye of the poet, and 
to whom every passing event was a parable,’ + met with 
God as he walked alone. It was a morning in mid- 
winter, when all seemed dead and bare, when nature 
seemed to confirm the dread that Jehovah had forgotten 
His rule and forsaken the world which He had made 
Then suddenly, as he passed sadly on, he saw a tree 
without leaves laden with white blossoms.? Dr. Post 
writes of the almond-tree: ‘ As there are no leaves on 
the tree when the blossoms come out, the whole tree 
appears a mass of white.’8 The Hebrew name for the 
almond means ‘ the waker, as it is the first tree to wake 
to life again from the sleep of winter. As the prophet 
stood gazing, a message from above flashed into his soul. 
The almond-tree is the sign of the mighty irresistible 
forces of nature, which never sleep, but only watch for 
the-time-when the glories of a new spring shall be 
a Titan ao ih is with Col Be w awake, 
watching over His mighty words of promise and of 
threatening spoken so long ago, His purposes can 


1 Cornill, Jeremia, p. 8. 2 Jer, i, 11-12. 
3 D.B. i. s.v. Almond. 


A ee eh ee 
is | 
Tn 


140 The Witness of Israel 


never fail. That hour made Jeremiah a prophet. It 
may have been on the same day that he learnt the first 
substance of his message. He saw on a fire a cauldron. 
The wood on which it rested had so tilted it up that 
its contents were on the point of boiling over and 
running towards the south. Again a message was 
flashed upon him. Out of the north, seething home of 
dark and little known tribes, whence the Scythians had 
poured forth, where the deadliest enemies of Israel 
lived, a scalding stream of judgement was to burst and 
overwhelm the doomed nation.1 We cannot enter into 
the earlier verses of this chapter, where the prophet, 
pleading his youth and inexperience, felt the strength- 
ening touch of God, and dared to accept His great 
commission. Enough to say that there is no passage 
in all literature which reveals so plainly how the 
divine calls come to those who are prepared for them, 
Jeremiah heard and saw, and ‘was not disobedient to 
the heavenly vision.’ 
He set his face against the blast, 
His feet against the flinty shard, 


Till the hard service grew, at last, 
Its own exceeding great reward. 


In the long book that bears this prophet’s name it 
is most probable that chapters i—vi. contain the teach- 
ing of these earliest years. Starting with a perfect 
picture of the happiness and devotion of Israel’s youth, 
when, in the love of her bridal days, she followed 

1 Jer. i, 13 ff. 


The Age of Jeremiah 141 


Jehovah through the unsown lands of the desert, he 
goes on to describe her faithlessness and ingratitude 
with its evil and bitter consequences. At times echoes 
of earlier promises of forgiveness sound in his ears. 
He hears the voice of penitence and confession as 
Israel, turning away from the mad frenzy of the 
idolatrous worship on the mountain tops, returns to 
her true Saviour! He even sees a future so rich in 
blessing that the heathen will own Jehovah as their 
God.? But soon this gleam of hope is lost in the dark 
thundercloud of judgement. The prophet shrinks in 
terror— 


My bowels, my bowels! Let me writhe! The walls of 
my heart! My heart moaneth within me! I cannot hold 
my peace! because my soul heareth the sound of the trumpet, 
the shout of battle. Destruction upon destruction is pro- 
claimed ; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my 
tents spoiled, in a moment my curtains.® 


Then came the end. In his youth Jeremiah had 
looked out from his home over the chaos of the hills 
going down to the Dead Sea. Now he saw in vision 
the whole land a chaos— 


I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was formless and 
empty. . . . I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all 
the birds of the heaven were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the 
garden-land was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were 
broken down before Jehovah, even before His fierce anger.* 


1 Jer. iii, 23. 2 Jer. iv. 2. 
% Jer. iv. 19-21, Driver’s translation. * Jor. iv. 23-5. 


142 The Witness of Israel 


So, finally, he declared that all his efforts to refine 
the people and purge away the dross had been in vain: 
‘In vain do they go on refining; for the evil are not 
separated. Rejected silver shall men call them, because 
Jehovah has rejected them,’ ! 

We see, then, that the first message of Jeremiah 
ended on the note of hopeless doom, He had preached 
to all whom he met, ‘I am weary with holding in; 
pour it out upon the children in the street, and 
upon the assembly of young men together.’ He had 
chastised with stinging words the impious worship, the 
immoral lives, the cruelty and injustice of the people. 
Through the streets of Jerusalem he had sought in 
vain for one good man. Now with beating heart he 
waited for the fulfilment. There is nothing more 
dramatic in Hebrew history than the sequel. All 
his expectations were falsified. The Scythians went 
back and left Judah untouched. Under Josiah’s lead 
the work of religious reformation was begun. Jeremiah 
returned to his native village to meet a plot against his 
life, to endure scorn and disgrace as a blasphemous 
fanatic who had spoken lies in the sacred name of 
Jehovah. His old distrust of his mission returned. 
The poignant words of chapter xx. verse 7 reflect his 
experience now, even if they do not belong to this 
period: ‘O Jehovah, Thou hast beguiled me, and I let 
myself be beguiled: Thou art stronger than I, and hast 





1 Jer. vi. 29-30. 2 Jer, vi. 11. 
3 SOTA Na Ais 


The Age of Jeremiah 143 


prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, 
every one mocketh me.’ 

So far as we can follow the uncertain course of his 
life, it was years before Jeremiah took up his ministry 
again, Yet it was in those years that those truths 
were burnt into his soul which in later days he was 
to proclaim, and by declaring them to win the victory 
of faith, 

Two thoughts are suggested here which are worth 
consideration— 

(a) We learn that even the greatest of the prophets 
were not inspired to read the future like the pages of a _ 
book. Jeremjah’s task in these years was to awake 
the conscience of the people. We cannot doubt that 
in some cases he succeeded. It may well be that some 
of those who carried out Josiah’s great reforms were 
roused to action by the words of the prophet. His 
intense conviction that the end was so near was mis- 
taken. Yet it gave his message an intensity and force 
which it could not have found in any other way. The 
spirit was everything, the outward form mattered little. 

(6) Jeremiah’s ministry is a warning against the 
too facile conclusion drawn by some biblical scholars, 


that all the genuine writings of any one prophet must 
conform to the same type of thought. How easy to 
have argued, if we did not possess his later teaching, 
that every word that speaks of a brighter future must 
be a later addition! Rather let us learn that the life- 


utterances of every true prophet, as of every real 





1A4 The Witness of Israel 


teacher, are likely to be as varied as human nature 
itself. 

Whilst the passionate voice of Jeremiah died away 
into silence, the brilliant success of Josiah’s reforming 
work appeared to contradict all these gloomy auntici- 
pations, The long-forgotten law-book was found in 
621, and gave the stimulus to the vigorous crusade of 
the young king against all corruptions of the pure 
worship of Jehovah. The old high places were now 
authoritatively declared to be unlawful, and their 
priests brought in to fill subordinate places in the 
temple at Jerusalem. The long list of heathenish 
symbols and practices in 2 Kings xxiii. 4-15 shows 
how far the worship of Assyria and the older beliefs of 
the pre-Israelitish inhabitants of Canaan had asserted 
themselves in Manasseh’s reign. None the less, there 
is a perfectly clear distinction between the idolatrous 
priests who conducted the worship of Baal and of the 
astral deities (verse 5), and the Levitical priests of the 
high places (verse 9), who were priests of Jehovah, 
though the altars at which they had previously — 
officiated were now desecrated. 

For the remaining thirteen years of Josiah’s reign 
(621-608), all the power of the court was exerted to 
enforce the legal form of worship, and to stamp out 
idolatry. Left alone by the dying empire of Assyria, 
Josiah was master in his own kingdom, and with noble 
loyalty sought, with heart and soul and might, to fashion 
his people after the divine pattern. 


The Age of Jeremiah 145 


There is no more striking illustration in history 
of the impotence of laws which do not command the 
moral assent of those who have to obey them. On the 
one hand, the people, resentful against the destruction 
of their ancient liberties and superstitious observances, 
only waited an opportunity to fall back into the old 
ruts. On the other hand, in court circles 


The reformation produced, as Jeremiah seems to have 
expected almost from the beginning, a generation of 
thorough-paced pharisees; the type of zealotry which 
brought destruction on Jerusalem in the first century of 
our era was in full operation at its overthrow in the sixth 
century before Christ.’ 


This, in all probability, explains the silence of 
Jeremiah during this period of reform. He could not 
oppose a king whose character he so much admired. 
Yet he could :not join with any heart in a work that 
was foredoomed to failure. One may picture these two 
young men with their contrasted lives. One in his 
quiet village home, mistrusting his call, eating the 
bitter fruit of disillusionment, had to wait until the 
hard discipline had broken up his fallow ground, and 
he was fit for further service. The other at the head 
of the state, without doubt or hesitation, was eagerly 
pressing on his work of reformation. Both were God’s 
servants, types of those who may be found in almost 
every century. Some at the heads of armies and 
triumphant movements of thought, others on the 

1 Findlay, Books of the Prophets, vol. iii. p. 171. 
L 





146 The Witness of Israel 


sterner battlefields of their own hearts, have won the 
victories of righteousness and truth. We are debtors 
to them all. 

Prophecy during these years is represented by 
Nahum’s fierce and exultant paean over falling Nineveh. 
Nothing in the Old Testament is more stirring than his 
descriptions of the siege— 

Woe to the City of Blood, 

All of her guile, robbery-full, ceaseless rapine. 
Hark the whip, 

And the rumbling of the wheel, 

And horses galloping, 

And the rattling dance of the chariot! 

Cavalry at the charge, and flash of sabres, 

And lightning of lances, 

Mass of slain and weight of corpses, 

Endless dead bodies— 

They stumble on their dead. 

Doubtless this ardent spirit was an admiring fol- 
lower of the root-and-branch policy of Josiah. He saw 
Nineveh overthrown by the righteous judgement of 
Jehovah, condemned for cruelty and idolatry, while the 
oppressed nations witness gladly her utter shame and 
ruin. Over against her rises the picture of Judah, 
calm and trustful in Him who is a stronghold in the 
day of trouble, happy in the message: ‘Keep thy 
feasts, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no 
more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off’? 

Nahum must have been one more of those Old- 


1 Nahum iii. 1-3, G. A, Smith’s translation. 
? Nahum i. 15. 


The Age of Jeremiah 147 


Testament prophets who had to face the contradiction 
between faith and actual happenings. It cannot have 
been many months after he uttered these words when 
the tragedy of Josiah’s death blasted all his hopes. 
Whilst Nineveh was in her death-throes, Pharaoh- 
Necho, king of Egypt, marched northwards to make his 
bid for the empire of the world. Disdaining this inso- 
lent foe, who dared to set his foot upon the land of 
Jehovah, Josiah offered battle on the fateful field of 
Megiddo. We cannot mourn his death. Better far for 
him to die there, fighting bravely for his country, than 
to have to go back to witness the complete reversal of 
his hopes. He had played his part manfully, and left 
an influence behind him that never ceased. But the 
task of carrying on the true Witness of Israel called 
for stronger hands than his—the hands of one who had 
prayed for death, and, it may be, envied Josiah’s heroic 
end, but who, at Anathoth, was learning fast 


That life is not as idle ore, 

But iron dug from central gloom, 
And heated hot with burning fears, 
And dipped in baths of hissing tears, 

And battered with the shocks of doom, 
To shape and use. 

Before returning to Jeremiah it is needful, however, 
to listen to one more prophetic voice, that of Habakkuk. 
For a year or two after Josiah’s death Judah lay under 
the domination of Egypt, and in the reaction that fol- 
lowed much of the reformation was undone; whilst 


heathenism and social wrongs once more made life in 





148 The Witness of Israel 


Jerusalem all but intolerable to the faithful few. 
Meanwhile, Nineveh had fallen, and at the battle of 
Carchemish, in 605 B.c., the pretensions of Egypt 
received their deathblow. The young Nebuchadrezzar 
of Babylon now had the world at his feet. The tyrant 
Assyria had passed away as Nahum had said, but in 
her place another tyrant had arisen, and Judah’s lot 
was no better than before. 

It was at this time that Habakkuk’s message was 
given. It is not possible to enter into the intricate 
critical questions that make the exposition of this little 
book so hard. Such a discussion must be sought else- 
where. Meanwhile, it must suffice to say that to the 
present writer none of the proposed reconstructions 
seem in the least satisfactory, and the more ordinary 
view has been taken.! 

In the dark days of moral and social disorder that 
ensued on Josiah’s death, a prophet raised the old 
familiar problem as to the silence of God. How could 
a pure and holy God tolerate all this evil? As an 
answer he is bidden to look away to the north. There, 
strange and incredible as it may seem, God is Himself 
mustering an avenging host. The prophet shall not 
have long to wait; in his own days he shall see the 
Chaldeans coming in God’s name to chastise evil.? 

1 For a full discussion, see Peake, Problem of Suffering m 
the O. T. Peake cuts the knot by putting much of the book in 
post-exilic times. A. B. Davidson, in C.B., and Findlay, Books of 


the Prophets, give admirable defences of the position adopted here. 
? Hab. i. 6-9. 


The Age of Jeremiah 149 


For the time, this answer suffices. Then, as the Chal- 
dean victories are won, and tidings are brought of the 
violence and destructiveness of the new conquerors, the 
old doubts arise with new vigour. Surely, says the 
prophet, the remedy is worse than the disease. There 
is wickedness in Israel, but it is slight compared with 
the awful, ruthless inhumanity of these invaders. Can 
it be the God of holiness who is directing them?! In 
sore anguish of heart he turns aside and eraves another 
answer. Looking out as from a watch-tower over a_ 
world in ruins, he asks what traces there are of any 





divine plan in all this chaos. Then light breaks in 


upon him. He sees that in all wrong-doing there are 
the seeds of death; that ‘tyranny is suicide’; that the 
proud wrong-doer, though used for a time by God, has 
no permanence. Yet, in spite of all, since God is ever- 
Tasting, ‘the just man shall live by his faithfulness.’ ? 
This is the unconquerable assertion of experience in 
the teeth of all denial. The link that binds the faithful 
soul to God can never be shattered. ‘ Blessed is the 
man whose strength is in Thee,’ whose roots of life go 
down to God. He can never perish; none can pluck 
him out of God’s hand. Then, strong in this perfect 
confidence, Habakkuk rang out woe after woe upon the 
pitiless Chaldean. All his sins against humanity shall 
be avenged. Yet when the civilizations of heathendom 
have perished, something better shall arise, and ‘the 








t Hab. i. 13, &e. 
? Hab. ii. 1-4. 





150 The Witness of Israel 


earth shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah's 
glory, as the waters cover the sea,’ ! 

Many doubt whether this last verse is not the 
believing comment of some later scribe. Yet it is the 
lawful conclusion of the thought of chapter ii. verse 4. 
Habakkuk gave no sign of the way in which this glory 
was to come. It was probably a later prophet who 
wrote the Psalm of Redemption in chapter ii., and 
pictured in such majestic language Jehovah Himself 
coming forth for the salvation of His anointed people. 
Our truest picture of Habakkuk is probably that of the 
lonely thinker who thought his way through bewilder- 
ing doubt and scepticism to a faith whose foundations 
lay so deep that no tempests of dynastic or national 
changes could reach or shake them. 

The crisis that drove Habakkuk to ) find in faith _ 
alone the solution which external events had failed 
to give catled- Jeremiah from his seclusion to take up 
agaist inteenmpe mansir Tt was now clear to all 
that his e north was no spectre of a gloomy 
imagination, but a present danger. 

Carchemish was to Jeremiah what the appeal of Ahaz 
to Tiglath-Pileser was to Isaiah: like a flash of lightning 
in the darkness, it lighted up to him the whole line of God’s 
purposes on to the end. He foresaw his past anticipations 
passing into history. The conviction seized his mind that 
it was the will of Jehovah that all nations should serve the 


king of Babylon; to refuse his yoke, whether for Israel or 
another people, was to resist the decree of God.’ 


1 Hab. ii. 14. 2 A. B. Davidson, D.B. ii. 571a. | 


The Age of Jeremiah 151 


Hence, burdened with the heaviest message that ever 
a patriot carried, bringing upon himself the constant 
reproach of cowardice and disloyalty, he came forth to 
proclaim the inevitable downfall of Jerusalem. Hence- 
forth he stands before us as the foremost fighter in the 
arena, whose victory meant the ruin of his dearly loved 
native land. 

We cannot trace here the long drawn-out tragedy 
of these closing years of Jerusalem, during which the 
prophet 
was condemned to watch the lingering agony of an ex- 
hausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of 
stupefaction and raving which preceded its dissolution, and 


to see the symptoms of vitality disappear one by one, till 
nothing was left but coldness, darkness, and corruption. 


All that can be done here is to indicate the thoughts 
about the future that he expressed. 

These may be conveniently grouped under four 
divisions, 

1. As concerned the state he became more and more 
convinced that it must fall. To the mechanical faith 
of those who held stubbornly to the letter of Isaiah’s 
teaching as to the inviolability of Zion he opposed the 
lesson of the potter and the clay, God, who had shaped 
the nation in the past, can cast it now on the rubbish 
heap if He will. The one gleam of hope is in the 
thought that the crushed clay may on the potter’s 
wheel be wrought into another vessel! Yet when he 


1 Jer. xviii. 


@ 


P 
vi 


oe 
iad 


152 The Witness of Israel 


took the earthen bottle and in the sight of priests and 
elders smashed it on the ground and declared, ‘ Even 
so will I break this people and this city, as one 
breaketh a potter’s vessel that cannot be made whole 
again,’ that faint gleam was extinguished! Similarly 
through the sternness of the great address in the 
temple court, which almost cost him his life, there 
breaks the hope that even yet through penitence and 
reformation the last calamity may be averted? But 
this also fades away. Men shall hear no more the 
cheerful sound of the grinding of the mill-stones pre- 
paring the evening meal. No light set in a window 
shall brighten the dark streets at night-fall. No voice 
of mirth or of marriage gladness shall break the silence. 
\ For two generations the land must lie empty while the 


ve king of Babylon reigns supreme.’ Hence, later, when 
Bor from many peoples, Edom, Moab, Tyre, and 


idon, met in Jerusalem to conspire against Babylon, 
seeking by one resolute effort to regain their freedom, 


~/ Jeremiah appeared amongst them wearing on his 


shoulders such a yoke as oxen plough with. His 
message is that Jehovah is king of all, Nebuchadrezzar 
is His vicegerent, only in submission to him is there 
any hope of safety.4 Reading such passages alone we 
should have to say that the old hope of the permanence 
of the earthly kingdom had utterly perished. 

2. Yet this hope also belonged to Jeremiah. In 


1 Jer. xix, 2 Jer. xxvi. 
3 Jer. xxv. 10-11. * Jer, xxvii. 


The Age of Jeremiah 153 


597, eleven years before the final tragedy, the first 
captivity had taken place, and a host of prisoners 
was carried away to exile. To them the prophet wrote 
words of comfort. Let them be patient and fear God 
in the lands of their captivity. God’s thoughts to 
them were thoughts of peace. Let them only be loyal 
and faithful and they shall be restored to their own land. 
The kingdom was only interrupted, not destroyed." 

~ How, then, was this restored community to be 
governed? The answer is found in chapter xxiii. In 
the previous chapter the weakness and folly and 
untimely fate of the kings who followed Josiah had 
been described. Jehoahaz, in his exile in Egypt, is 
spoken of with pity; his fate is far sadder than his 
father’s, who died in battle. Jehoiakim is spoken of 
with fierce contempt, the man with neither eyes nor 
heart except for plunder. Jehoiachin, whose brief 
reign lasted but a few months and ended in the first 
capture of Jerusalem, has been cast out like a broken 
bottle which no one wants. Naturally one would 
expect as a sequel an oracle about the next and last 
king of Judah, Zedekiah. But here a new and 
wondrous thought breaks in. Zedekiah, though too 
weak for his post, was not a bad king. A later writer 
describes him as ‘the breath of our nostrils, the 
anointed of Jehovah ... of whom we said, Under 
his shadow shall we live among the nations. Jeremiah 
treats him with sympathy and respect. So here he 


1 Jer. xxix. 2 Lam. iy. 20. 


154 The Witness of Israel 


a) dj seems to think of the. meaning of his name, Zedekiah, 
ie. Righteousness of Jehovah, Suddenly a light bursts 

a him. Just as Isaiah saw behind the feeble Hezekiah 
e figure of his ideal king, so here. The days are 
coming when a King shall arise whose name shall be 
Jehovah is our Righteousness, who shall be in reality 
what Zedekiah’s name so pathetically suggests. He 
shall be the righteous Branch out of David’s house, 
‘He shall reign as King, and deal wisely, and shall 
execute judgement and justice in the earth.’4 Under 
his peaceful sway Judah and Israel, reunited once 
more, shall live in perpetual safety. He is no warlike 








uv 
hr 


conqueror, earthly glory is lost in the moral splendour 
of his reign, he is once more Isaiah’s Prince of Peace. 


x This passage is denied to Jeremiah by many scholars, 
hn but it is powerfully defended by Cornill, whose exposi- 
‘ tion has been largely adopted. Cornill adds that the 
i. ‘\ mention of ‘the Branch’ in Zechariah, where the name 

al appears as that of the hoped-for Messianic king, 
( and where it is evident that the prophet is using a 
designation long familiar to his hearers, is an incontest- 
able proof of the genuineness of this passage. We 
may accept it with full confidence. 

3. We have yet to mention the crowning hope of 
Jeremiah’s life. As the Babylonian armies closed their 





: 


* 


lines around the doomed city he lay in prison, con- — 


demned by every soldier as a faint-hearted traitor and 


a public danger. There, as John Bunyan’s a) on - 


' Jor, xxiii. 5-6. 


ee: 


f 
= 
: 


F 





The Age of Jeremiah 155 


Bedford Bridge was lit up by the glory of the Celestial 
City, the walls of Jeremiah’s place of captivity seemed 
to break, and beyond them he saw the brightest vision 
of his life. He had seen much of the failure of solemn 
covenants between God and man. He had read in the 
Deuteronomic law-book how the finger of God Him- 
self had written down the ten commandments. He 
knew of that great scene when king Josiah stood by 
the pillar and swore to keep that covenant. He had 
heard the rejoicings over the great celebration of the 
Passover that followed, and seen the vigorous attempt 
to purge the whole land from idolatry. Yet all this 
had ended in lamentable failure, and the end of the 
nation seemed close at hand. Where did the weakness 
lie? Doubtless in this, that men had failed to keep 
their side of the covenant, had made it an external 
pact, had never entered into it with true repentance, 
had known nothing of the circumcision of the heart. 
How could this be remedied? If man was too weak 
and sinful to do his part, was not failure inevitable ? 
The answer comes like a flash. God Himself must 
once more intervene. Long centuries before He had 
traced His Will on tables of stone. Now He will 


go deeper. Entering Himself the dark recesses of the 
human heart He will do His work there, writing there 
His holy laws. Then, set free from sin’s defilements, 
with the past forgotten, all shall know Him, and the _ 
peaceful days of blessing be brought i zm.) 


/ 1 Jer, xxxi, 31-4. 


oe 








156 The Witness of Israel 


This is the famous prophecy of the New Covenant, 
the imperishable crown of Jeremiah’s faith, honoured 
because Christ Himself used it as He brake the bread 
and took the cup on the night when He was betrayed, 
in many respects one of the greatest utterances of the 
Old Testament. It is the more wonderful because of 
the striking contrast it presents to his earliest teach- 
ing. The young man saw little but disaster and 
darkness, the note of hope was almost entirely absent 
from his teaching. The old man, worn out by many 
privations, bearing always a crushing load of hatred 
and contempt, fought his way through, and saw this 
bright light beyond the gloom. Of him, as of few 
others in the world’s history, it was proved true that 


tribulation worketh patience ; and patience probation ; and ~/ 


probation hope: and hope putteth not to shame; because 


the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts | 


through the Holy Ghost which was given unto us.’ 


4, A few words must be added as to Jeremiah’s 


attitude to the world outside. In the chapter that — 


describes his call he is appointed as a prophet to the 
nations, ‘to pluck up and to break down, and to 
destroy and to overthrow; to build and to plant.’? 
In harmony with this he declares the righteous retribu- 
tion that Jehovah will mete out to all peoples. Bidden 
to take the cup of the wine of Jehovah’s fury, and pass 
it round among all the nations, he commands them to_ 


1 Rom, y. 3-5. 2 Jer. i, 10. 


 -_ 


The Age of Jeremiah 157 


drink till they stagger like a drunken man, as they 
taste this bitter draught of punishment.1 So he 
declares: ‘Jehovah hath a controversy with the 
nations, he will plead with all flesh; as for the 
wicked, he will give them to the sword.’? In this 
he carries forward the conviction of every prophet from 

Amos onwards. 
But, we ask, had he no thought of a conversion of 
the heathen? In laying the foundations of religion in 
\ the work of God in the human heart he went far 
C4 beneath any national conception and reached the 


universal. Implicitly, at any rate, the prophecy of 
are new covenant reached all mankind. It would be 
cio” strange if no signs of this application of his own 
pw) _\ principle were found in his preaching. The answer 
a is found in chapter xvi. verses 19 and 20. Many 
ae scholars? doubt the genuineness of these words. But 


"the weighty judgement of Cornill is given in their 
favour. His words may be quoted— 


The words which the returned heathen speak here are 
through and through Jeremiah, and the expectation that 
the heathen also will return to Jehovah is to be found 
everywhere in the tendency of Jeremiah’s theology, and is 

/ a simple consequence of his conception of religion. 


We believe that to be thoroughly justified. Turning 
from the impenitent evil of his own countrymen to the 
God whom he has found for himself, he saw even the 


1 Jer, xxy. 15 fi. 2 Jer. xxv. 31. 
3 e.g. Duhm and Giesebrecht. 


( 


158 The Witness of Israel 


heathen leaving their own vain gods to seek the same 
refuge. 


0 Jehovah, my strength and my stronghold, and my refuge in 


the day of affliction, 

Unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, 
and shall say, 

Only lies have our fathers inherited, vanity and things with no 
profit in them. 


This light seemed to fade away afterwards, the absorb- 
ing question as to Jehovah’s relation to His own 
people filling his heart, and leaving little room for 
other thoughts. Yet as Cornill says: ‘ By this flashing 
light-ray of Jeremiah’s hope of the future, Deutero- 
Isaiah was set on fire, and increased it to the brightly 
burning flame of conscious universalism.’ , 

If it be true that the great prophet of the Exile 
found his inspiration here, while our Lord Himself 
made His own and stamped with deeper meaning the 
message of the new covenant, Jeremiah’s work received 
a nobler reward than he ever dared to dream. With 
the fall of Jerusalem and his forcible carrying away 
into Egypt his work was over. An impenetrable veil 
hides the close of his life from us. Yet all that was 
most precious in earlier prophecy was preserved in his 
teaching. His contribution to the Witness of Israel 
was of priceless value when the work of reconstruction 
was begun. And to us to-day his message, so piercing 
in its sincerity, so poignant in its pathos, so stirring in 
its last invincible hope, is of abiding worth, ss 


CHAPTER V 


*PROPHETS OF THE EXILE 


I. Ezekiel, prophet and priest—His call—His philosophy of 
history: (1) The honour of Jehovah’s name must be made 
manifest at any cost—Contrast with earlier prophets. (2) For 
this end Jerusalem must fall. (3) Certainty of the kingdom— 
Relation to Davidie king. (4) Conflict with the armies of 
evil, (5) Picture of restored Church and State—Relation of 
the Prince to the Messianic King. Il. Advent of Cyrus— 
Hopes of the exiled Jews—Oracle of downfall of Babylon in 
Isaiah xiii. and xiv.—Deutero-Isaiah—Cyrus as the Anointed 
of Jehovah—Israel elect for the service of mankind—Promises 
of grace and glory—The ‘Servant of Jehovah’ sections— 
Their relation to the rest of the prophecy—Three methods 
of interpretation: (a) National, cf. Peake; (0) Ideal, cf. 
Skinner; (c) Personal, cf. Duhm, Sellin, Gressmann—The 
true view of (c) stated—The Servant intervenes between 
the present incapacity and the future glory—Relation of the 
Servant to the Davidic King—Objections to this view con- 
sidered—Conclusion—Greatness of the height now attained. 


I 


MONGST the captives carried away to Baby- 
lonia in the first deportation in 597 B.c. was 


the next in the great succession of prophets, 
Like Jeremiah he belonged to 
Unlike him he found in the details of ritual 


Ezekiel. 


amily, 
Se 









160 The Witness of Israel 


much that appealed to his religious sense, and sought 
by combining external forms V with ith inward yen to 
prepare a community fit to ; to discharge the mission n of 
Israel. The blending of the prophetic and priestly 
“streams of thought which has already been marked in 
Deuteronomy became still more notable in him. He 
thus became the leader of the next great movement in 
Hebrew history. The whole future organization of the 
people bore the stamp of his influence. Whilst the _ 
fall of Jerusalem made a great gap between past and 
. future, the teaching of Ezekiel formed the bridge over 
hich the dearly-bought truths of earlier experience 
passed, to find & EW resting-place in the consciences 
} and ape Ma his _and hearts of his successors, 

Ezekiel’s ~~ Ezekiel’s call te to his office is described by him in 
a passage rich in power of expression, though its 
details are not easy to understand. Isaiah’s vision 
had met him in the temple courts, Jeremiah had seen 
the symbol of God’s working in the signs of returning 
spring. Ezekiel, looking northwards across the wide 

plains of Babylonia, saw a storm-cloud moving towards — 
him, brightening = oe until, luminous with a _ 
supernatural splendour, it r revealed to him the throne _ 

of God Himself, Each part of this vision, ‘the glowing 
fire, the wheels full of eyes, the cherubim, the majestic 
Figure seated above the firmament, the noise like the 
sound of many waters, adds to the awe and wonder 
of the sight.) It is the King, almighty, omniscient, 


a 









1 For an extraordinarily interesting account of a sunset effect 


Prophets of the Exile 161 


world-filling, who has drawn near to speak to His 
servant, _ Henceforward it was the task of Ezekiel’s 
life to set forth and to justify the world-plan of this 
transcendent God. Before the vision passed he saw 
a hand reaching out to him the roll of a book, written 
on both sides with a bitter message of lamentation and 
woe.’ Eating it, he found it sweet to the taste, sign 
that he had been brought into such harmony with the 
divine purposes that his best delight and pleasure 
would be in declaring them. In this Ezekiel is a 
striking contrast to Jeremiah. There were times, it 
is true, when in almost identical words Jeremiah spoke 
of eating the words of Jehovah and finding them the 
joy and rejoicing of his heart; but often they burnt 
within him like a consuming fire, and he uttered them 
only because he could not refrain. Both forms of 
utterance, messages from reluctant lips that ‘would fain 
suppress them if sie dared, and messages from those 


who fd a Stem joy in in declaring the divine purposes 


f judgement, will always be pr be present “wherever there 
isa Gras prophets manisty. Phe 


The details of Ezekiel’s life are little known. This, 


however, is of small consequence, as his conceptions are 
practically the same throughout his whole course, Till 
the destruction of Jerusalem his constant declarations 


on the banks of the Chebar vide Mrs. Hume-Griffith’s Behind the 
Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia. It closely resembles Hzekiel’s 
vision, and suggests the physical substratum of his experience. 

1 Wek. ii. 9 ff, 

? Jer. xy. 16; xx. 9, 


M 







162 The Witness of Israel 


of the certainty of its overthrow exposed him to 
contempt and danger. Afterwards, the fulfilment of 
his predictions won for him a new consideration, and 
many gathered to listen to him. But his philosophy 
of history is a consistent whole, and we may proceed 
without delay to outline it. It may be arranged under 
five leading thoughts :— 

1. The whole purpose of human history is to 
manifest the glory of Jehovah and the honour of His 
name. It was for this end that He chose Israel long 
ago, and it is to achieve it that He will restore the 
eople to their own land. 

This thought is thrown into strong relief by the 
fact that Ezekiel takes a darker view of the history of 
Israel than any of the earlier prophets. Jeremiah had 
spoken longingly of the early days of faithfulness, 
‘the love of thy bridal days, the kindness of thy 
youth, + Similarly, Amos,? Hosea,? and Isaiah,‘ all 
refer to a time of loyalty and obedience. But Ezekiel 
will have none of this. In the teeth of the national 
pride, rich with all the stirring memories of heroes and 
patriots for whom Jehovah had wrought such signal 
deliverances, he flings the charge _that the _past_has 
been an unbroken record of ingratitude and infidelity. 
His-terrible sixteenth chapter, with its successive 
pictures of the foundling child, the unfaithful wife, 
and the abandoned prostitute, puts this most forcibly ; 


1 Jer. ii. 2. 2 Amos v. 25. 
3 Hosea ix. 10. 4 Tsa, i, 21-6, 


Prophets of the Exile 163 


but the thought recurs constantly. Hence the choice 
of Israel was due to nothing in herself, but was the 
free and sovereign determination of Jehovah. What- 
ever Israel may be, such @ purpose cannot be defeated. 
It must prevail. 

At first thought this appears hard and unattractive 
teaching as compared with Hosea’s tender words about 
the child found by a father’s love, taught to make its 
first halting steps, and led out of Egypt Yet it is 
plain that in Ezekiel’s day gentler teaching must have 
failed. He saw that there was in the national character 
a hard bed-rock of unbelief and superstition that had 
never yet yielded to the divine influence. Till that 
was seen and confessed all hope of restoration was 
impossible. But to bring real penitence God would 
spare no chastisement. If we describe Ezekiel by the 
terms of later days, we call him a Calvinist. He 
approached his problems from the side of the divine 
decrees. His sense of the utter ill-desert of Israel is 
paralleled by the complete self-condemnation of the 
noblest of the Puritans, and is to be understood with 
equal literalness in both cases. If we stumble at his 
expressions of the final purpose, ‘I wrought for My 
Name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight 
of the nations,’ ? we may remember the very first 
petition of the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Hallowed be Thy Name.’ 
Ezekiel did not understand the fullness of meaning 


1 Hosea xi. 1 and 3, 
2 Hzek. xx, 9-14, &e, 





164 The Witness of Israel 


of that prayer, but his message was not replaced, only 
transfigured by it. 

2. To secure this purpose, Ezekiel declared unflipch- 
ingly that Jerusalem 1 must fall. For a time, it was 
true, this would result in the dishonouring of Jehovah 
in the sight of the nations, who would count the ruin 
of the people the proof of His helplessness.1_ Even in 
Israel we know that there were many whose faith was 
utterly shattered, and who turned aside to heathen 
abominations. Yet, he seems to say, God will pay 
even this price to establish His kingdom. When 
Jerusalem falls, all the surrounding nations, Ammon, 
Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, must bear 
the righteous penalty for their high-handed scorn of 
(Jehovah and His people and their self-deification? It 
will be over the wreckage of a ruined world that the 
new building will rise. In this we see again the 
ancient expectation, so often marked before, of the great 
catastrophe heralding a new world-era. 

3. Ezekiel had no doubt of the certainty of the © 
kingdom of Jehovah. In the earlier part of his 
ministry, after he had seen the temple deserted by ; 
the heavenly glory,’ hope broke through in the promise, — 
‘I will gather you from the peoples and give you the 
land of Israel . . . and I will put a new spirit within 
you...and I will be your God’* The universal 


1 Ezek. xxxvi. 20, &c. 

2 Ezek, xxv.-xxxii. passim, esp. xxviii. 2; xxix. 3. 
3 Ezek. x. 18, &c. 

‘ Ezek. xi. 17-20. 





Prophets of the Exile 165 


kingdom was promised to David’s house. The great, 
broad-winged, speckled eagle, the king of Babylon, had 
transplanted one king to Babylon, carrying away the 
top of the cedar of Lebanon. In its place he had set 
up a kingdom of his own, under his own nominee, 
Zedekiah But this had been smitten by the east 
wind and withered. In its place Jehovah Himself 
will plant a shoot of the high cedar, the Davidic house.? 
This shall flourish on the mountain-top. Unto it fowl 
of every wing shall gather to dwell in its branches, 
and all other trees, every other kingdom, shall own the 
work of Jehovah.’ This lawful king is mentioned again 
in chapter xxi, verse 27. The impious king Zedekiah 
shall lose crown and diadem, and the monarchy of 
Israel cease. Yet this is only for a time, ‘till he come 
whose right it is, and I will give it him, Ezekiel 
thus reiterates the older prophecy of Gen. xlix, 10.* 
S\after the fall of Jerusalem the prophecies became 


37 i more plain. Two great pictures lie before us of 
} he restored community. Judah and Israel are reunited 


4 


once more in their own land, over whom one king shall 
rule, as of old, ‘And my servant David shall be king 
over them; and they shall all have one shepherd.® 
The land that once lay waste and desolate shall become 


1 Hzekiel will not admit Zedekiah at all as Jehovah’s repre- 
sentative. All the hope of the future lay for him in the exiles 
carried away with Jehoiachin, ‘the top of the cedar.’ 

2 Hzek. xvii. 22, 

3 Ezek. xvii. 23-4, 

* See above, p. 84. 

5 Ezek, xxxiv. 23; xxxvii, 24, &c. 





166 The Witness of Israel 


‘like the garden of Eden.’! The people themselves , 
shall be purged from all filthiness by the sprinkling of 
clean water, ‘and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave | 
to your fathers, and ye shall be My people, and I will 
be your God.” All this is to be wrought by the 
sovereign interposition of Jehovah, whose omnipotence 
is shown in the great vision of chapter xxxvii. verses 
1-14, where His life-giving breath inspires life into the 
dead bones of the nation so that they stand up, ‘an 
exceeding great army,’ God’s warrior host once more 
against all the forces of evil. 

4, Ezekiel’s anticipations would appear to have 
reached their goal in these chapters; but two further 
sections are added to them, each of great significance. 

The first of these (chapters xxxvili, and xxxix.) 
depicts a great invasion of Palestine by dark and mys- 
terious heathen hordes from the far north. Ezekiel 
states that this inroad has been long predicted by 
former prophets. In the uncertainty as to the dates of 
such passages as Isa, xviii. 12, Micah v. 11, Joel ii. 2, 
&c., it cannot be definitely decided whether he refers 
to such sayings, or to prophecies not found in our 
canon based upon the popular expectation of such a 
catastrophe. But in Ezekiel this great event is once 
more subordinated to the ruling purpose of God, that ' 
the heathen may own His power.? Before the invading 
armies meet God’s own people, His terrible majesty 
will shake the earth, and His enemies perish in storms 


! Hizek, xxxvi. 35, &e. 2 Ezek. xxxviii. 16, 


Prophets of the Exile 167 


of hail and fire from heaven. All that remains for 
Israel to do is to bury the dead and gather up the 
spoil of the ruined hosts. Then the heathen that still 
remain will acknowledge both the righteousness and 
the power of Israel’s God.? 

5. Finally, the prophet sets himself to draw an 
idyllic picture of the future blessedness of Israel. It 
is here that the prophetic and priestly streams become 
altogether one. The glory of Jehovah returns to fill 
the restored temple? From the western gate a stream 
flows out to bring sweetness and healing to the waters 
of the Dead Sea, and to change the desolate range of 
hills sloping down from Jerusalem to the Jordan 
Valley into gardens and orchards. Every detail of 
lawful worship is to be carried out with strictest care. 
The Levites, who in former days had gone astray— 
almost certainly those who had officiated without sense 
of blame at the old high places—are now degraded from 
the priesthood, and only permitted to perform inferior 
tasks. The Levites of Zadok’s house, loyal guardians 
of the pure temple worship, must henceforth be the 
only priests.‘ Holiness is the one all-~pervading note 
of the national life; and | national life; and the whole atmosphere is suf-_ 
fased with heavenly brightness, reflected in the new 
name of the city, Jehovah-shammah—the LORD Mai By 
Sere. 5 If as we read these chapters the details 





! Ezek. xxxix. 21-3. ? Ezek. xliii. 3-4. 
3 Ezek. xlvii. 1 ff. * Ezek, xliy. 10-16; xlviii. 11. 
5 Ezek. xviii. 35. 





168 The Witness of Israel 


perplex, and the emphasis laid on the sacerdotal and 
ritual side seems overstrained, we may recall that their 
thoughts ‘embody in material form Ezekiel’s sober but 
intense conception of religion, as completely as the 
Gothic cathedrals translate into concrete and abiding 
stone and marble the soaring visions of mediaeval 
Christianity.’! 

One figure in this final description has been left as 
yet undescribed, ‘the prince’ who is to be the civil 
ruler of the new nation. He is thought of as having 
sons and successors ;* is charged with the duty of sup- 
plying the material of the public sacrifices;? and, whilst 
he has certain rights of access to the sanctuary which 
the common people do not possess,‘ he is not permitted 
to perform any definitely priestly acts. Whilst it must 
be fully recognized that the picture is incomplete, inas- 
much as the secular life of the nation is hardly seen at 
all in these visions, it is hard to see how to identify 

his prince with the long-expected Messiah. We need 
not suppose, as do some, t “that Ezekiel, in these final 
chapters, had broken with his former conceptions.’ It 
is perhaps truer to say that in this final vision his first 
thought of God’s transcendent power came back with 
overwhelming force. In the description of the heavenly 
city in the Apocalypse of John, which owes so much to 
Ezekiel, there is no need of sun or moon. In Ezekiel’s 


1 Lofthouse, Cent. B. p. 289. 2 Ezek, xlvi. 16-18, 
3 Hzek, xlv. 17. 4 Ezek. xliv. 1-3, 
5 eg. Stade, A. T. Theologie, p. 293. 


Prophets of the Exile 169 
city, God Himself was King; the grandeur of that 


thought left no room for any other. He could not go 
on to say, as did John, ‘the lamp thereof is the Lamb.’ 
But the pictures of his earlier and later prophecies are 
not exclusive of one another. 

Looking back over this sketch, we may see Ezekiel’s 
contribution to the Witness of Israel. It has been 
outside our purpose to speak of the way in which he 
deepened the sense of individual responsibility, and so 
prepared for the more spiritual kingdom of the future. 
But we see him looking out with calm and confident 
gaze over all the tumult of the nations, and yet hand- 
ing on with unconquerable faith the hope in the world- 
dominion of Jehovah, If he helped to bind the chains 
of legalism around his descendants, we can now see 
that such a discipline was necessary before his loftier 
thoughts could be received. As the reality of the 
struggle against the powers of evil is forced home upon 
us in each new conflict with social evils, we hear his 
words, not as ‘a very lovely song of one that hath a 
pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument, ! 
but as the message of the Most High, declaring— 


I will seek that which was lost, and will bring again that 
which was driven away, and will bind up that which was 
broken, and will strengthen that which was sick : and the 
fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in 
judgement.” 


If his doctrine, that the controlling purpose of world- 
1 Ezek, xxxiii, 32, ? Ezek, xxxiv. 16. 





170 The Witness of Israel 


history is the manifestation of Jehovah, seems some- 
times to be narrow, r, yet ‘it contains in germ all the. 
‘philosophy of a truly missionary faith. Here, as~so 
often in his Scriptural paraphrases, Charles Wesley has 
penetrated to the inmost truth in his spiritualizing of 


Ezekiel’s words— 








That I Thy mercy may proclaim, 
That all mankind Thy truth may see, 
Hallow Thy great and glorious Name, 
And perfect holiness in me, 


II 


When Ezekiel was sketching his ideal city of the 
+ 

future, 572 -3.c.; Babylon was at the summit of its 
__ power. The long and glorious reign of Nebuchadrezzar, 
605-562, had still ten years to run. During this 
period Babylonia was guarded by a great system of 
defences, whilst the restoration of the canals tended to 
revive both commerce and agriculture. Meanwhile 
the arts of life were eagerly cultivated. Ezekiel’s 
description of ‘the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 
girded with girdles upon their loins, with dyed turbans 
upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon,’? 
is paralleled by an account given by Herodotus of a 
Babylonian gentleman.? Yet within a few years of 
Nebuchadrezzar’s death his dynasty lost the crown, 
and a usurper, Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, 
seized the throne, 555 B.c. Five years later came the 

1 Ezek, xxiii, 14-15. 2 L195. 


Prophets of the Exile 171 


startlingly sudden appearance of Cyrus, king of 
Anshan, in West Elam, who overthrew his suzerain, 
Astyages of Media, and with marvellous statesmanship 
joined the peoples of the North into the Medo-Persian 
empire. 

Cyrus is one of the favourite heroes of the ancient 
world, and legend has been very busy with his origin 
and romantic history. But the facts of his life are 
astonishing enough without the aid of fiction. Uniting 
his troops into a finely disciplined army, he threatened 
the northern frontier of Babylonia. Then, turning 
westwards into Asia Minor, he shattered the power of 
Croesus, king of Lydia. After some years, on which, 
unfortunately, the annals of Babylonia are silent, he 
marched southwards. There he met and defeated the 
crown prince, Belshazzar, A detachment of his army, 
aided by treachery within the walls, entered Babylon 
without resistance. Nabonidus was captured. Bel- 
shazzar, making a last stand with the remnant of his 
ewes chan: “perhaps in his fortified palace in the 
apital.. Cyrus entered the city in triumph, 538 B.c., 
and the Babylonian empire was at an end. The 
power of the great Semitic races was now lost for ever, 
and a new epoch in the history of civilization began. 
We stand here at one of the great turning-points of 
history. 

Cyrus’s entrance into Babylon was hailed with 
delight by many to whom the reign of Nabonidus had 
been unwelcome from the first. In the well-known 





172 The Witness of Israel 


Cyrus cylinder, now in the British Museum, written 
probably by Babylonian priests under the conqueror’s 
direction, it is said that Marduk, in wrath at the 
unfaithfulness of Nabonidus, had himself called Cyrus 
as a deliverer. 


He searched through all lands; he saw him, and he 
sought the righteous prince, after his own heart, whom he 
took by the hand. Cyrus, king of Anshan, he called by 
name ; to sovereignty over the whole world he appointed 
him. . . . Marduk, the great lord, guardian of his people, 
looked with joy on his pious works and his upright heart ; 
he commanded him to go to his city Babylon, and he 
caused him to take the road to Babylon, going by his side 
as a friend and companion. 


Every Bible student is arrested at once by the parallel 
between these words and those of the great unknown 
writer whose work is contained in chapters xl.-lv. of our 
Book of Isaiah. In the first part of this book are to 
be found two chapters which reflect the conditions of 
this period (xiii. xiv.). There God’s consecrated ones, 
proudly exulting, come from the mountains, and 
Babylon ‘the proud splendour of the Chaldeans’ is 
overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah, and left a 
ruined and lonely spot, haunted by demons.! Then, 
in a magnificent passage, the descent of the king of 
Babylon into Sheol is described. The spirits of dead 
tyrants rise from their shadowy thrones to greet this 
fallen star. ‘Is this the man that made the earth to 
1 Tsa. xiii, 19 ff. 


Prophets of the Exile 173 


tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the 

world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; 

that let not loose his prisoners to their home?’ 

Doubtless this fierce hatred is inspired by the faith in 

Jehovah’s universal rule, and was breathed out by some : 
captive Jewish patriot. But the writer of chapters 

xllv. has a far wider outlook than this. Watching 7 
the career of Cyrus he saw in him the anointed servant 1O-Si 


_of Jehovah. All unknown to himself this new world- ~~ 


conqueror was an instrument in the hands of the God 
of Israel, who would go before him to subdue nations, 
to make the rugged places plain, to break in pieces the 
doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron? 
Challenging the assembled nations to explain the origin 
of this warrior from the sun-rising, whom victory meets 

t every step, who chases them before him and makes 
‘their sword as dust, their bow as driven stubble,’ 3 
Jehovah declares that this is His work, and comforts 
Israel with the assurance of His abiding favour and 
protection. The work of Cyrus is to set Israel free, and 
to ensure the restoration of the temple. At the end 
he will learn to attribute all his success to Jehovah, 
and to own His supremacy. The conquered nations 
passing as captives before Israel will do homage as to 
the people of the one true God. Some think that the 
close resemblances between the words thus addressed to 


1 Tsa, xiv. 16-17. 2 Tsa. xly. 1-6. 
3 Isa. xli. 1, vide Skinner, in loco, 
4 Isa, xliv, 28-9; xlv. 13-14, 


174 The Witness of Israel 


Cyrus and those on his own cylinder are best explained 
by supposing that in editing his works after Babylon 
had fallen, the prophet consciously adopted some of 
the phrases of the priests. Certainly the coincidences 
seem too many to be accidental. If so, we have only 
one more illustration of the serene and confident faith 
of the best representatives of Israel. All that was 
most wonderful in martial exploits, and all that was 
most far-reaching in religious expectation, was fear- 
lessly taken and applied to the insignificant remnant 
of that little Palestinian state, exiled now for two 
generations from its home across the desert. 

Turning now to the prophet’s teaching as to the 
mission of Israel, we find the great thought that this 
people is elect for the sake of mankind. The God who 
formed the earth did not mean it to be a desolation, 
left empty because its inhabitants had been consumed 
by the fires of judgement, Rather He proclaims 
through His prophet: ‘ Look unto Me and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is 
none else.’ ? 


/ Here, then, is given the key to unlock the history 
‘ of the past. Israel is the servant of Jehovah, chosen 


long ago in the person of Abraham, charged with a 
mission to all nations. This servant-people, however, 


‘has proved blind and deaf beyond belief to the pur- 


poses of its God. Because of this it has been given 


' over as a prey to its enemies, In its deep degradation 


1 Tsa, xlv, 22, 


Prophets of the Exile 175 


and wretchedness it thinks that God has forgotten it. 
But now in marvellous words of consolation Israel is 
assured of the everlasting kindness of Jehovah. Mighty 
herald voices proclaim His coming. He, the almighty 
Creator, 


who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, 
and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended 
the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the 
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance, 


is coming now as a tender Shepherd to lead His exiled 
children home, ‘with His right arm He gathers the 
lambs, and bears them in His bosom.’ Led back to 
their own land, ransomed and forgiven, they should 
dwell in peace in Jerusalem; whilst flashing out from 
the Holy City the true religion should enlighten the 
world. 

There is no need to dwell on the beauty of the 
language of these chapters, some of the noblest in 
all the world’s literature. McCurdy ranks the author 
with Virgil among the poets, peers 


in their combination of subtle, all-pervasive tenderness and 
sympathy, sustained and not overstrained fervour, splendour 
and simplicity of diction, the enchantment of perfect speech 
set to the music of the universal human heart.’ 


We have yet to deal with the four famous passages 
whose interpretation is one of the most difficult tasks 
of the expositor of to-day: xlii. 1-4; xlix, 1-6; 1.4-9; 
li, 13-lii, 12. 

1 P.M. iii, p. 421, 


176 The Witness of Israel 


These passages offer so many points of contrast to 
the chapters in which they are found that some 
scholars consider that they come from a different 
author, and have been inserted in their present position 
by the final editor of the book. Such a theory creates 
more difficulties than it solves. The sections have . 
undoubtedly exercised an influence on those that follow 
them, and cannot be excised without serious injury. 
Without attempting to state reasons, it must suffice to 
say here that a simpler explanation is to be found in 
the changing moods of the prophet, sometimes dazzled 
with the brightness of the coming glory, sometimes 
cast down by the terrible contrast between his hopes 
and the present moral and political position of his 
fellow-countrymen. 

Taking the passages as they stand, we may very 
briefly indicate the chief methods of interpretation 
that have been adopted. 

(a) Starting from the undoubted fact that in many ; 
passages the EE nse ie 
historical nation of Israel; Scholars claim tha 
if is "possibleto retain this use of the phrase through- 
out. For English readers, a very persuasive putting 
forth of this view is found in Dr. Peake’s Problem of 
Suffering in the Old Testament. This writer holds 
that the unnamed speakers who ask in chapter liii. 1, 

‘Who could have believed that which we have heard ?’ 
are the heathen nations. They had watched with con- 
tempt the coming into existence of the puny people 





Prophets of the Exile 177 


of Israel, and turned with abhorrence from it in its 
calamity, covered with wounds and smitten with 
loathsome disease. Now they see with amazement 
its exaltation, and learn that its death was that of 
a martyr. ‘The innocent Israel had suffered and been 
slain, while the guilty nations had lived.’ Then they 
learn that Israel had been the vicarious sufferer for 
their sin, and find in their knowledge of the true God 
that Israel’s chastisement had won their peace. 

To defend this conclusion, Dr. Peake has to meet 
the objection that in two passages, xlix. 5-6, and liii. 8, 
the Servant is expressly distinguished from the people. 
He does this partly by retranslation and partly by 
alteration of the text. Thus, in the first passage, he 
translates so as to make Jehovah the subject of the 
verb ‘bring back’ in verse 5, and deletes the words, 
‘that thou shouldst be My Servant’ in verse 6. In 
chapter lili, verse 8, instead of ‘for the transgression 
of My people was he stricken,’ he amends the text and 
renders ‘for our rebellions he was smitten to death.’ 

These changes are defended on linguistic grounds 
which cannot be discussed here. But on the general 
question Dr. Peake argues that the usual translation 
cannot be right because the work of bringing back 
Israel from captivity is always elsewhere assigned to 
Jehovah, never to the Servant. But as against this it 
seems quite plain that i ea igre mae a 
refer primarily to the restoration from exile, but to the 
spirittal renewal. The verse should probably be 


N 





178 The Witness of Israel 


rendered, ‘To bring back Jacob again to Himself, and 
that Israel be not swept away.’ In that case, chapter 
lili, verse 8 only marks a fuller development of the 
thought. The mode of this bringing back to God is 
there described; it is the vicarious death of the 
Servant: that is to effect this grand result, 

Dr. Peake’s view is, it is clear, open to the very 
serious objection that it requires the alteration, on 
almost exclusively subjective grounds, of two passages 
which contradict it. But there is a far graver reason 
against it in that it requires us to believe that Israel’s 
national sufferings are regarded as innocently borne and 
redemptive in their efficacy. This is in strong con- 
tradiction to the teaching of all previous prophets that 
Israel was guilty and suffering for its own sin, and 
directly denies the statement of chapter xliii. verses 27-8 
that it was because of transgression that Jacob had 
been made a curse. Dr. Peake attempts to meet 
this by saying that the speakers in chapter lili. 
are heathen, and that, compared with them, Israel 
was relatively, if not absolutely, righteous. He even 
suggests that the words, ‘although he had done no 
violence, neither was deceit in his mouth,’ do not 
connote sinlessness. Further, he remarks that the 
writer considered that Israel’s punishment had already 
been excessive: ‘She hath received at the Lord’s hands 
double for all her sin.’ 

Yet the cumulative force of these arguments is very 
small. If Israel had been too severely punished, it was 


Prophets of the Exile 179 


for sin, and nothing else, that she had suffered. If the 
absence of deceit does not necessarily mean sinlessness, 
yet deceit is again and again represented by the 
Bible writers as the very core of sinfulness.’ Moreover, 
if the penitence of the heathen is founded on a mis- 
understanding of the meaning of Israel’s sufferings, it 
seems as though the whole spiritual value of Isa, liii. 
is destroyed. A parallel has been sometimes sought 
in Paul’s argument in Rom, xi. 11, &c.2 But the 
thought there is that because of Israel’s sinful unbelief, 
not because of its patient suffering, the door of faith 
was opened to the Gentiles; a very different thing! 

We are compelled, therefore, decisively to reject 
this interpretation. Its great recommendation is that 
it retains throughout the same meaning of ‘Servant.’ 
But the advantages of this are far too dearly purchased. 

(6) A second view, widely held, is that which 
regards the Servant as the ideal Israel. An admirable 
exposition of this is given by Dr. Skinner. 


The Servant is first of all a personification of Israel as 
it exists in the mind and purpose of God, of the ideal for 
which the nation has been chosen and towards which its 
history is being fashioned. This ideal has never yet been 
realized in the earthly Israel, and hence it is described (as 
in xlii. 1 ff.) in language which could not be used of any 
section of the historic people. But, on the other hand, 
since the ideal is inseparably connected with the nation, it 
is intelligible that the significant parts of the history should 


1 Cf, Jer. ix, 6; v. 27, &e. 
? Cf. Skinner, Isaiah, p. 234, 


180 The Witness of Israel q 


be introduced into the portrait of the Servant, and that he 
should thus be spoken of as one who has passed through 
certain experiences and has still a career before him (xlix. 
iff. 1.4 8.3 In. 13 i)? 


This ideal had been approximately realized in the 
loyal section of the nation, who had suffered many 
things for their faithfulness. From them the prophet 
learnt to see how suffering may be redemptive, and 
hence it was natural that this thought should find 
expression in his conception of the Servant, who em- — ‘ 
bodies all that is of religious significance in the true 
idea of Israel. ‘Finally, although this probably goes 
beyond the writer’s conscious meaning, the personifica- 
tion of the ideal Israel easily passes into the conception — 
of the ideal Israelite.’ 

Such an exposition as this avoids the objections 
that have been urged against the previous view, and 
is, one believes, far truer to the essential teaching: 
Yet it has peculiar difficulties of its own. It is haxd s 
to think of an Ideal which had never had a realy 
existence suffering for the sins of others, A nation cE 
can suffer, or an individual, but an ideal! In spite 
of all that has been said about the extraordinary 
power of personification which the Hebrews possessed, 
one remains unconvinced that chapter liii, could have 


1 Tsatah, vol. ii. p. 235. 

2 Ibid. p. 236. (For further expositions of this view, see 
Davidson, O. T. Prophecy, and Edghill, The Evidential Value of 
Prophecy.) 


Prophets of the Exile 181 


been written about anything other than a real 
existence. 

(c) Hence one is driven back to seek again in a 
personal explanation of the Servant the solution of 
the problem, The tendency in this direction has 
been greatly accelerated by the brilliant commentary 
of Duhm. In his earlier work on the Theology of 
the Prophets this scholar advocated the ‘ideal’ view, 

yee has since become convinced that the strongly 
individual character of the passages requires a per- 

mai sonal original, Accordingly, he finds this original 
jn 8 a righteous teacher of the law, who had been 
martyred for for his is loyalty. We need not discuss this 
view here further than to say that the figure drawn 
by Duhm is altogether too slight to correspond to the 
great lines of the portrait in chapter lili. But we 
believe that his instinct in seeking for a person is just_ 
and right. On the same lines Sellin attempts to show 
Ve Jehoiachin, supposed to have voluntarily given 

1 


w= 


imself up in order to save the captivity of his people, 

and afterwards honoured by the king of Babylon, is 

Qe the person of whom these words were written. Again, 

one feels that in this king ‘who did what was evil in 

the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father 

had done, ? and for whom Jeremiah felt pity, but no 
reverence,’ is altogether too small for such a part. 

| Once more, in the work previously referred to, 








1 2 Kings xxy. 27 ff. 2 2 Kings xxiv. 9. 
3 Jer. xxii, 24-30. 


AY, 

_ 
% 
~ 


Gressmann criticizes with great force all collective 
interpretations. He then concludes that the Servant 
must be an individual, and one well known both to the 
prophet and his hearers. This, he holds, explains the 
enigmatic and incomplete references to the Servant’s 
life and activity. Struck by the atmosphere of mystery, 
he finds the original of these passages in hymns sung 
in Babylon at the ritual of a dying and reviving God. 
Some such passages were taken over by the prophet 
and used to depict an eschatological figure which 
Jehovah will send to Israel to lead it back to Him and 
to spread abroad His light to the end of the earth. 
Gressmann is convinced that no contemporary figure is 
great enough to fulfil such tasks.’ 

In all these views the common point of agreement 
is that an Individual must be found. If, then, all these 
identifications fail to satisfy us, and Gressmann’s picture 
of a dying Adonis is, apart from deeper considerations, 
irreconcilable with the suffering Servant, with visage 
more marred than any man’s, smitten as though with 
leprosy, where are we to find the key to the problem? — 

We believe that here there dawned upon the mind 
of the prophet the vision of the only type of Servant 
who could truly perform God’s commission. At first, 


in the glow of ho ich filled_hi e news of — 


5 a \ 
promise—and—achievement. It was God’s work, and } 


182 The Witness of Israel 





1 Op. cit. pp. 312-27. 


Prophets of the Exile 183 


back to actualities, and saw that his fellow countrymen 
were altogether unprepared, blind and deaf and stub- 
born and hopeless. The present misery of the people 
is described in chapter xlii. verses 18-25. What good 
there is in the people is downtrodden and expiring, a 
bruised reed, a dimly burning wick. Israel has left its 
God, and refused to weary itself about Him! What 


can possibly bridge the gap between the ideal future 


and the present weakness ? The answer appears to be 


given in the Servant passages. There is to come One who 


shall begin a Work not by ol clamour and self-assertion, 
but by the but by the silent influences influences of the spirit (xi. 1-4), 


For this work he has been prepared in secret by 
Jehovah, kept till the fullness of time was come 
(xlix. 1 ff). In his work, when once begun, though 
daily taught by God, he must endure shame and spit- 
ting and reproach; yet even that shall not overturn 
his faith (1, 4 ff.). Then the prophet sounds a deeper 
note, and shows the Servant laden with unheard-of 
sorrows, given over, a guiltless victim, to an unjust 
/death.. At this awful tragedy contrition and penitence 
seize all beholders. They become conscious that all 
has been borne for their sakes. Then, finally, the 
Servant, restored in glory, sees the travail of his soul 
and is satisfied, since the fruit of his sorrows is a great 
and glorious influence in the world. 
Such, in the baldest language, is in outline this 
ereat prophecy. Who, then, is this Servant? Is it 
1 Tsa, xlili, 22, &e. 


My 







184 The Witness of Israel 


the Messiah-King of whom earlier prophets spoke? 
We cannot maintain that at first this was present to 
the prophet’s consciousness, All that we can say is 
that as Isaiah the son of Amoz saw rising out of the 
turmoil and strife of his day the king wondrous in 
counsel and divine in his strength, so his great suc- 
cessor saw this righteous Servant of Jehovah standing 
between the present and the future. | 
Yet when his description of the Servant’s death and 
glory is complete he does seem to return to knit his 
own hopes with those which had gone before. After 
the perfect picture of the restored Jerusalem in chapter 
liv., where the afflicted, tempest-tossed city has her 
stones laid with fair colours, and her foundations with 
sapphires, where all her children, like the Servant, 











‘have become disciples of Jehovah, he returns to describe 
‘ the lasting joys of the Messianic community, where all 


the promises made to David shall be realized. Here, 
then, the figures blend. The Servant is the King, only 
he is clothed, not with earthly splendour, but with the — 
ivine Spirit. He does not rule with violence, nor 
" / destroy the wicked with his breath; his weapons are 
the message of God, his appeal his vicarious death, his 
promises forgiveness and peace. If this exposition is 


‘true, Old Testament anticipation reaches its zenith 
‘here. The Witness of Israel as thus set forth searches 
| the depths of human nature, and seems to stand on the 


very threshold of the New Testament. 
It is necessary, however, to consider briefly what 





Prophets of the Exile 185 


many scholars hold to be unanswerable objections to 
this view. Mr. Edghill considers that two of these are 
quite conclusive ; first, that the Servant is spoken of as 
having a present existence and a past experience, and 
second, that there is no room between the prophet’s 
own historical standpoint and the return from Babylon 
for the emergence of such a person Dr. A. B. David- 
son also holds the second reason as decisive, and many 
other names might be quoted. 

But in reply to this it must be said that it is just 
the vagueness with which the Servant’s life and experi- 
ence is spoken of that makes it hard to interpret him 
either as a historical person, or as Israel in any sense 
at all. Gressmann remarks on the gap which yawns 
between his choice from his mother’s womb and his 
future glorification. ‘We do not learn what the 
Servant has done before, nor on whom he has exerted 
his power, whether on Israel or on the heathen.’? Or 
as Giesebrecht, arguing against the personification 
theories, asks, ‘Where did he appear? How did he 
appear? Who put the hindrances in his way ?’ 

Our thoughts turn back at once to Isa.ix, There 
we read: ‘Unto us a Child is born.’ The tense is 
perfect, as of a finished fact. At once this Child is 
declared as sitting on the throne of his father David. 
The closeness of the parallel seems to support a similar 
individual interpretation in both cases. Moreover, as 
to the objection with regard to the chronology, we have 

2 Op. cit. pp. 297-8. = Op. cit. p. 320. 


186 The Witness of Israel 


learnt to understand that time hardly enters into the 
visions of the prophets. Between the glorious future 
and the gloomy present the Servant’s work must come, 
We do not expect the prophets to set forth a chrono- 
logical chart of the future, or to be always consistent 
with their own utterances at different times. No one 
has taught us more impressively than Dr. A. B. David- 
son the need of looking away from the mechanical 
and structural parts of prophecy if we desire to see its 
essential meaning. Because of the lessons we have 
learned from this great master himself we have ventured 
to doubt his conclusions here. 

Here, then, as the Exile draws to its close, we seem 
to stand on the high mountain, to hear the trumpet 
call announcing the coming of the kingdom at last. 
As a matter of fact the way turned downhill once more, 
Yet as we ponder these great thoughts and see how 
high they soar, we may surely say— 


r 


{ I remember well 
One journey, how I feared the track was missed, 
So long the city I desired to reach 
Lay hid; when suddenly its spires afar 
Flashed through the circling clouds; you may conceive 
My transport. Soon the vapours closed again, 
But I had seen the city, and one such glance 
No darkness could obscure: nor shall the present— 
A few dull hours, a passing shame or two, 
Destroy the vivid memories of the past. 


‘What, no celestial city ?’ said the pilgrims. ‘Did 
we not see it from the Delectable Mountains 2’ v 





CHAPTER VI 
PROPHETS OF THE RETURN 


Silence of Deutero-Isaiah—Discouraging conditions of first Return— 
Death of Cyrus and resulting anarchy—Accession of Darius— 
Prophecy of Haggai—His promises to Zerubbabel—Expected 
Messianic age—Ministry of Zechariah—Zerubbabel as the 
Branch—Anticipated glory of Jerusalem—Failure of these 
hopes—The glory of Athens and insignificance of Jerusalem 
See nee Uowavening faith in the future supremacy 
of Israel—The Saviour-God—The Book of Malachi and its 
message—The arrival of Ezra—The work of Nehemiah— 
The reading of the law—The priestly code—Its origin and 
significance—Teaching of Gen. i.—Priestly ideals—Their 
value—Piety of the Psalms—The Elephantine papyri— 
Weakening of the Persian power—Isa, xxiv.-xxvii.—Picture 
of the ideal future, 


I 


HERE is a saddening contrast between the 
| brilliant anticipations of the return from 


exile which marked the first prophecies of 
Deutero-Isaiah and the actual course of history, We 
have seen reason to believe that the prophet himself 
saw that between the future glory and the present want 
of spiritual power some great life and death must 
intervene, that so the people might be prepared through 


188 The Witness of Israel 


penitence and forgiveness to fulfil the national destiny. 
If so, the fact that he is silent as to the Return, and 
simply vanishes from sight, receives an explanation. 
Nearly a century earlier, Jeremiah had left his prophetie 
life and withdrawn to his home because his expecta- 
tions had been falsified. But whilst he learnt there 
deeper truths, which he was presently to declare, his 
successor’s message was already complete. We cannot 
follow his future history, though we would give much 
to possess his comments on the events which followed 
the decrees of Cyrus. He is like the unknown authors 
of Deuteronomy, in that he had to leave to later 
generations the justification of his teaching, The 
parallel becomes closer when we remember that in 
each case it was the outward form, rather than the 
inward meaning, which impressed the first hearers. 
Both received their final vindication in the teaching of 
Jesus, in whose words are so many references both to 
Deuteronomy and to the Servant of Jehovah. 

To those, however, who gladly hailed the per- 
mission of Cyrus to return to Jerusalem as the 
dawning of a new day, no misgivings were present. — 
Led by Zerubbabel, grandson of the hapless Jehoiachin, 
and accompanied by Joshua, grandson of that Seraiah 
who was chief priest at the time of the destruction of 
the temple, and who was executed by Nebuchadrezzar 
at Riblah, they made the long journey into Palestine, 
re-erected the altar of burnt-offering, and looked for 
the signs of divine approval. The disillusionment that 








Prophets of the Return 189 


followed was very bitter. The half-caste Samaritans, 
descendants partly of Israelites of the Northern 
Kingdom who had escaped captivity after the fall of 
Samaria, partly of foreign settlers, claimed to share 
in the rebuilding of the temple. No sooner was 
their offer rejected, than by open hostility and subtle 
misrepresentations to the Persian authorities they 
succeeded in wrecking the schemes of restoration. 
The returned exiles found themselves in a land which 
had been ravaged again and again by invading armies. 
Forests had been cut down, hillsides once rich with 
vineyards and olive-groves had been denuded of their 
soil, great heaps of scattered ruins, haunted by prowling 
jackals, covered the sites of the temple and palaces of 
Jerusalem. A succession of bad seasons, drought, hail- 
storms, mildew, failure of crops, brought dearth and 
distress. Whilst the wealthier members of the com- 
- munity were able to build themselves houses wains- 
cotted with costly woodwork, perhaps with the very 
wood designed for the adornment of the new temple, 
the poorer classes were miserable, and all alike faith- 
less and cynical. ‘If, said they, ‘Jehovah really 
wants His temple built, He will give us the means to 
do it. Till He makes the sign, there is nothing left 
for us to do.’ Meantime, in the greater world outside, 
Cyrus, ‘ the anointed of Jehovah,’ had fallen in battle 
against some of the wild tribes of the North. To those 
who had hailed him as the one led by the hand of 
1 Hag, i, 2 ff. 


190 The Witness of Israel 


Jehovah to the empire of the world his death must 
have seemed as contradictory as that of Josiah at 
Megiddo. His successor, Cambyses, has left a name 
notorious for folly and wickedness. At his sudden 
death, the impostor who passed himself off as Smerdis, 
the murdered brother of Cambyses, seized the throne. 
When he, in his turn, had been murdered, and the 
great empire was threatened with dissolution, Darius 
became king and proved himself a born ruler of men, 
one of the greatest sovereigns in history. 

It seems probable that all the stirring and unrest 
in the world outside awoke once more the slumbering 
spirit of Hebrew prophecy. In Darius’s second year, 

, /520 B.c., whilst the emperor was engaged in subduing 

revolts in many provinces of his kingdom, Haggat 

Val came forward to bid his people prepare for the 
Messianic age. With stirring words he roused them 

/ to resume the work of rebuilding the temple. Then, 

as they were disheartened by the greatness of the task, 

and the insignificance of their resources as compared 

with those of Solomon, he declared that all the 

tumults among the nations were the destined signs. 

\) preceding the advent of the ideal kingdom of God. 
Nee’ Out of them should come forth the glory of Israel, 
}& whilst the nations should bring costly offerings of gold 
A> and silver to the temple, and Jerusalem enjoy the 
Nut 6, peace of God. Later he declared that whilst all 
yorldly kingdoms should be overthrown, Israel should 


co remain, n, and Zerubbabel, page oe the_ signet 





Prophets of the Return 191 


ring on a monarch’s hand, should be His trusted and 
chosen representative.’ 

Contemporary with Haggai, and facing the same 
problems, is Zechariah, the author of chapters i.—viii. of 
the book that bears his name. The chief characteristic 
of his teaching is its form. His visions are ‘a series of 
conscious and artistic allegories—the deliberate transla- 
tion into a carefully constructed symbolism of the 
divine truths with which the prophet was entrusted 
by his God.’’ Zechariah’s view of the world differs 
from that of Haggai. It seemed to him that the whole 
earth was at rest.2 The strong hand of Darius was 
quelling the insurrections, and no signs of divine 
intervention appeared. Nevertheless, he declared un- 
hesitatingly his faith in the coming kingdom. He saw 
the uplifted horns of the heathen powers battered down 
by the hammers of the smiths, whilst Jerusalem spreads 
wide her borders and needs no walls, since Jehovah 
Himself is round about her like a wall of fire.‘ He 
saw the high-priest justified and honoured and cheered 
with the promise of the speedy advent of the Branch 
of whom the earlier prophets had spoken.6 He saw 
the two heads of the community, Joshua and Zerub- 
babel, standing like two olive-trees, filled with 
the divine Spirit, whilst above them is Jehovah’s 

1 Hag. passim, 
2 G. A. Smith. 
* Zech, i, 11. 


* Zech. i. 18 ff.; iii. 4 ff. 
5 Zech. iii, 8; cf. Jer, xxiii, 5; xxxiii, 15. 


4 yell 
ae 


- 





The Witness of Israel 


the temple brought to completion by Zerubbabel. He 

saw the favoured land of Israel purged both of the 

sinful and of wickedness itself. Then when exiles 

ENS from Babylonia arrived with gifts of gold and silver, 

he had a crown made to be placed on the head of 

: , Zerubbabel, who is himself hailed as the Branch, the 

AY” Messianic king, destined to rule upon his throne, and 

build the temple, whilst Hebrews from distant lands 
bring their aid.? 

Two years later, Zechariah resumed his ministry 
with a call to civic duty, to judgement and mercy and 
brotherly kindness. His closing words draw a lovely 
picture of Jerusalem, with its old men at peace in the 
streets, and its happy children playing without fear, 
whilst its scattered citizens are gathered home and its 
blessedness excites the longing desire of men of every 
race.3 

There is much that is pathetic about these visions, 


yor. ever-watchful protection.! He saw the finished glory of ¢ 


c 
uv 





Only a few years can have passed by before Zerubbabel 


died, as he had lived, an obscure Persian subordinate, 
Outside, the world resounded with the fame of heroic 











ne : 


deeds. At Marathon, Miltiades and his Greeks won ~ 


their immortal victory over the Persian hosts, and 
drove them in headlong rout into the sea. From 


1 Zech, iv. For a justification of this exposition, see G. A. 
Smith, or Driver, or Marti, in loco. 

? This seems the best interpretation of the difficult chapter vi. 
The R.Y. as it stands cannot be right; vide Driver, in loco. 

3 Zech, viii. 4 fi., 20 ff. 


Prophets of the Return 193 


this great conflict Europe gained its intellectual and 
political supremacy. Aeschylus fought in the ranks 
of the Greeks. Two years later, Leonidas and his 
Spartans died like heroes at Thermopylae, Xerxes 
burnt Athens, but the Greeks were unsubdued, and 
shattered his fleet at the great day of Salamis, the 
birthday of Euripides. Sophocles danced at the festi- 
val which celebrated the victory ; Socrates was born 
a few years later. All that was noblest in art and 
literature and philosophy began to be gathered into © 
the city of Athens. Jerusalem seemed to lie in a 
backwater, far out of the centrat-stream of history. 
Yet still the-faith-in the kingdom lived on in loyal 
hearts, ‘as chastened yet not killed . . . as having 
nothing and yet possessing all things” 

It is probable that the closing chapters, lvi—Ixvi., 
of our Book of Isaiah belong to this period. They are 
addressed to a community possessing a partial political 
independence; they lay stress on the details of the 
temple ritual; whilst the allusions to natural scenery 
show that they belong to Palestine. Further, they 
show that at least a partial return of exiled Israelites 
has taken place. The social wrongs which are so 
severely censured are similar to those described in 
Malachi and Ezra and Nehemiah. The many refer- 
ences to a section of the people addicted to curious 
forms of idolatry may be well understood of the mixed 
population which had settled in the land during the 
Exile, including the half-caste Samaritans, Hence the 

) 


194 The Witness of Israel 


chapters give a most valuable insight into the highest 
Hebrew thought of these days.! It is plain that their 
author knew well the chapters xl-lv. Had chapters 
lx.-lxii. stood alone they might well have been regarded 
as the work of Deutero-Isaiah himself. As it is we 
take them as the work of a successor. This writer 
passes by in silence the Servant sections. It is clear 
that he did not think that Israel, the nation, was a 
guiltless sufferer for the sins of others; a fact which 
seems to be an additional argument against any national 
interpretation of those passages. On the contrary, he 
is sure that it is his people’s sinfulness that is keeping 
back the coming glory, and so sounds his trumpet call 
to repentance. None the less, his certainty of the 


future lies deeper down than his consciousness of 


wrong. He declares that it is the destiny of the 
religion of Israel to overcome all distinctions, and 
unite men of every race in common worship, when ~ 
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all — 


peoples.’? Then, after stern denunciations of the cruel - 


self-seeking of the ruling classes, with whom the — 
righteous God can never be at peace, his faith breaks 
out triumphant as he sees Jehovah Himself coming 
forth as Redeemer. In some of the most glorious 


chapters in all literature he shows the rolling back of 


the dark clouds of sin and the rising glory of Jerusalem. 


1 This view in the main is that of Duhm. It is well i ic 
in English by Dr, Skinner in the C. B. 
? Isa. lvi. 7. 





Prophets of the Return 195 


Wealth and homage from every nation come stream- 
ing in. Zion’s walls are called Salvation, and her 
gates Praise, while her God is her everlasting light. 
Glad tidings are proclaimed to Israel, liberty for the 
captive, comfort for the broken-hearted; the people 
become God’s priests among the nations, nearer to Him 
than all others, whilst aliens become their servants.? 
The prophet’s heart goes out in wistful prayers to see 
the brightness of this glad day. Following this comes 
the awful vision of the solitary warrior, stained with the 
blood of His foes, who declares Himself as Jehovah, 
the Saviour-God, coming from executing His fierce 
vengeance on the enemies of Israel.2 Falling back 
from these lofty heights to the humbling experiences 
of the present, the prophet pleads the loving-kindness 
and compassion of God, and prays Him to rend the 
heavens, and melt the mountains, and once more by 
acts of terrible judgement to manifest His power.t 
The prophecy closes with a renewed picture of the 
blessedness of Israel and the doom of the apostates. 
As we review these chapters we are struck by the 
absence of any reference to a personal Messiah. The 
speaker in chapter lxi., whose words our Lord made 
the text of His opening sermon in Nazareth, is not the 
Servant, but the prophet. Finding no help or promise 
in his people as they were, the prophet looked away 


1 Tsa, lx. 18-19. 2 Tsa. lxi. 5, &e. 
? Isa. lxiii. 1-6. 4 Isa, lxiii, 7 fi. 
5 Isa, xvi: 


196 The Witness of Israel 





to Jehovah Himself. The strength of the undying 
witness that through and in Israel the kingdom of 
righteousness must come, is only the more wonderful. 
When, like so many before him, this prophet died and 

{ saw no fulfilment of his dreams, he had done his work 
and passed on the torch. 

Apart from certain psalms, whose pathetic com- 
plaints over the despised and desolate state of the 
nation appear to reflect the conditions of this period, 
the few chapters which bear the name of Malachi are 
our sole witness to the progress of thought during the 
next generation. Writing, probably, some years later 
than the author of Isaiah lvi.lxvi., about 460 B.c., he 

“’S blames his people for a sceptical mistrust of God’s 
NA continued guidance, and for the offering of cheap and 


Vt blemished sacrifices on His altar.1 At the same time 
) heartless divorce of Israelite women, together with - 
: arriages with the half-heathen colonists who sur- 
a rounded them, revealed the slackening of the sense of 


moral obligation.? The priests, forgetting the noble 

ne ideals of their order, made by those who had walked 
- 4 with God in peace and uprightness, and turned many 

‘away from iniquity, were foremost in shamelessness 
yand wrong’ Only a little circle remained of those 
who were truly loyal to Jehovah, and who clung 
together in hope.‘ The prophet contrasts the sincerity 
and earnestness of those who knew none but heathen 






1 Mal. i. 6-8. 2 Mal. ii. 10 ff. 
3 Mal. ii. 4 ff, 4 Mal. iii, 16 ff, 


Prophets of the Return 197 


gods, and seems already to recognize the truth that 
‘in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh 


righteousness, is acceptable to Him.’ ! 
He proclaims in the near future the advent of the roy 
Day of Jehovah. Suddenly He will come to His 


temple, There, as the refiner purges away the dross 


' 
in the fire, He will purge away the corrupt priests, yr 
and all other evil doers.?, Only the pious remnant of te 
tw 


the nation will remain; but when the proud and wicked 
have been burnt up as stubble, the sun of righteousness 

will bring healing and strength to the faithful? a 
Malachi sounds a new note in declaring that before 

this final judgement Elijah, the first of the prophets, 
will return to renew his work, and seek to restore unity — 

to the divided people, that the ruin may be less com- we 


plete.* Prophecy 





~ (\ 


will summon up her old energy and fire in the return of 
her most powerful personality, and make one grand effort 
to convert the nation before the Lord come and strike it 
with judgement.° 


As to the future that will follow, Malachi declares 
the prosperity of the saved people, calling forth the 
admiring wonder of other nations. He does not, as 
Haggai and Zechariah, proclaim the downfall of the 
great world-powers. He looks almost entirely on his 
own nation, and with deep earnestness sets forth the 

1 Mal. i. 11; cf. Acts x. 35. 2 Mal. iii, 1 ff, 


3 Mal. iv. 1-2. 4 Mal. iv. 5-6. 
5 Vide G. A. Smith, in Joco. 


198 The Witness of Israel 


inevitable consequences of its sin. He is not one of 
the great creative personalities of Hebrew history; it 
was his to preserve rather than to create. It was the 
task of the coming generations to enshrine in institu- 
tions some at least of the dearly-won possessions of 
Israel’s chequered history. Malachi stands as the 
connecting link between the prophetically guided and 
inspired people of the past and the priest-nation of 
the future. 


II 


The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are our sole 
historical authorities for the period marked by the 
founding of Judaism. In the year 458 B.c. Ezra, the 
priest and scribe, returned to Jerusalem with a com- 
mission from Artaxerxes to restore and reform the 
worship of Jehovah, and to enforce upon the inhabi- 
tants obedience to the law. On his arrival he set 
himself with uncompromising severity against the 
marriages with heathen women, and insisted that they 
should be forthwith divorced. A commission was ap- 
pointed to inquire into the extent of the evil, and the 
chief offenders promised to submit to Ezra’s demands." 

At this point there is a gap in the narratives. The 
curtain rises thirteen years later, when Nehemiah, a 
devout Jew, is introduced as the favourite cup-bearer 
of Artaxerxes in his winter palace at Shushan. A 


company of Jews, including Nehemiah’s brother, — 


1 Ezra vii.-x. 





a 
. 


2 


Prophets of the Return 199 


brought him word that the wall of Jerusalem had 
been broken down and the people left in great afflic- 
tion and reproach. As no account remains of any re- 
building of the walls previous to this time, it must be 
supposed that Ezra had attempted to fortify the city, 
but had been compelled to desist by the enemies of 
his rigidly puritan policy, whilst his work had been 
razed to the ground. 

Deeply stirred by this news, Nehemiah obtained 
from Artaxerxes permission to go to Jerusalem with 
the rank of governor. There, with an enthusiasm 
which overcame all obstacles and disdained all 
threatenings, he roused his fellow countrymen, and 
in the marvellously short time of fifty-two days com- 
pleted the rebuilding of the walls. The wonderfully 
picturesque account of this work, divided systematically 
amongst the chief families and guilds, reveals Nehemiah 
as one of the most single-hearted and inspiring person- 
alities of Hebrew history. Turning to social reform, 
he redressed the wrongs of the poor, who lay at the 
mercy of the usurers from whom they had been com- 
pelled to borrow in order to pay the crushing Persian 
tribute; and both by example and precept, worked for 
a happier state.? 

Following this, a great national convocation was 
held, at which Ezra, with numerous helpers, read and 
expounded ‘the book of the law of Moses.’ The streets 
were quickly filled with the lamentations of those who 

1 Neh, i, 1-4. ? Neh, ii.—y. 


200 The Witness of Israel oa 


felt both themselves and their country guilty of trans- 
gression against these sacred precepts. With stirring 
words Nehemiah encouraged them, and bade them 
believe that ‘the joy of Jehovah is your strength.’? 
Next came a great celebration of the Feast of Taber- 
nacles, and then, after a day of national humiliation 
and confession, Nehemiah and the heads of the com- 
munity bound themselves in solemn covenant to 
observe and to enforce this holy law.? . 
The length of Nehemiah’s residence is not stated. 
All that appears is that after some time he returned 
to Persia. In his absence the old evils revived. 
Returning in 432 B.c. he violently suppressed the 
malpractices, purified city and temple once more, 
and banished the grandson of the high-priest, who had 
married a Samaritan woman. Here the narrative 
abruptly closes.$ 
The story just outlined is at the present moment 
severely criticized, and by some questioned altogether. 
It is no part of our present task to discuss the diffi- 
culties which have been raised. It is sufficient to 
maintain that at this time the people became the 
people of the law, and to consider the significance of 
this fact.* \ 
The law which was read to the people was essen- 
homed the Pentateuch as we now possess it. Before the 
1 Neh, viii. 10. * Neh. ix. 2 Neh. xiii. 6-31. 


‘ For a brief outline and discussion, see G. A. Smith, Book of 
the Twelve Prophets, vol. ii. pp. 198 ff. 





Prophets of the Return 201 


Exile many smaller collections of ritual laws must have 

been in existence. During the captivity these were 

collated and enlarged and a complete sketch of the 

worship of the future constructed. We have seen the 
beginnings of this process in the ideal commonwealth 

of Ezekiel. He was one of the first of the school of 

writers who culminated in Ezra. In their present 

form these collections of laws form part of the priestly 
narrative of the Hexateuch, quoted by scholars as P. 

Of these sections it is true that ’ 
read consecutively, apart from the rest of the oh Rey 
they will be found to form a nearly complete whole, \ \t - 


containing a systematic account of the oriyines of Israel, Bed 
treating with particular fullness the various ceremonial \s 
institutions of the Hebrews (Sabbath, Circumcision, Pass- 

over, Tabernacle, Sacrifices, Feasts, &c.), and displaying a 
consistent regard for chronological and other statistical lx 
data which entitles it to be considered as the framework 

of our present Hexateuch.’ 


Hence the noble first chapter of Genesis is derived 
from this source, a fitting introduction to the whole. 
All that we are now concerned to do is to note 
the outlook on the future of these writers, to see how 
Israel’s faith in its destiny still lived on amongst those 
who did not share the first return. It may be remarked 
that the very existence of such writings is full of 
significance. Far from their home, with everything 
in their surroundings hostile to faith, these men 


1 Driver, Genesis, p. iv. 


202 The Witness of Israel 


planned out the laws of life for a future in which 
they might never share, and trusted the issue to God. 
The God in whom they believed was the Creator of 
heaven and earth. Turning disdainfully away from 
the grotesque myths of Babylon, they taught that at 
the word of God this wondrous universe sprang into 
being. 


The scheme (of Genesis i.) is made up, first, of a few 
great antitheses that strike the eye, light and darkness, 
earth and heaven, dry land and water. Then there is the 
preparation for life, the vegetation upon the earth; then 
the preparation for moral and religious life, for that orderly, 


moral constitution of things which was aimed at from the 


beginning—the appointing of the heavenly bodies to rule 
the day and the night, to regulate the great religious 
Seasons, and the fixed terms of life, and man’s moral 
existence. And, finally, the successive creations of all the 
various orders of life: (1) the aquatic creatures and birds ; 
(2) then the terrestrial creatures; (3) and, lastly, man— 
in whom God’s work of creation returned as it were to 
God Himself, and He met His own work in fellowship.' 


The earth having been thus prepared for man’s 
home, these writers go on to trace through Seth and 
Shem the genealogy of the Hebrew people. Then the 
story of Abraham is retold, with repeated references to 
the covenant between him and God. The promise 
given to Abraham is the everlasting possession of the 
land of Canaan, whilst kings and nations should be 


1 Dr. A. B. Davidson; see his fine study of this narrative in 
O. T. Prophecy, pp. 199 ff. 


Pana oF 


es 


Prophets of the Return 203 


numbered amongst his descendants.! The same promises 
are recorded as having been renewed to Jacob.” 

Passing onwards, these writers tell the story of 
Moses, to whom, for the-first-time, the covenant.name 
‘Jehovah’ was revealed. Then, after the deliverance 
from Egypt, all the institutions are described with 
—— most scrupulous care which were to make Israel a 

holy nation, sanctified by the abiding Presence of 

Jehovah in her midst. The awful sense of the divine 
oliness is shown again and again by the safeguarding 
f the tabernacle from all irreverent approach, while 
Ww he priests receive a dignity quite unknown in earlier 
ays. It may be observed that there is no world-wide 
outlook here, no expectation of a kingdom or a king 
before whom all nations should do homage. Hope 
rests content with the vision of a holy people in a 
holy land, freed from all defilement, living a peaceful 
life under the divine protection. 

This, then, was the ideal to which Ezra called the 
people, the ruling aim of loyal Jews from his day to 
the time when Jerusalem fell before the armies of 
Titus. To us it may seem narrow and unattractive, 
yet a sympathetic study reveals the presence of many 
noble thoughts. Thus, the exactness of the ritual 
seems needlessly minute, and recalls to us its perversion 
in the days of Christ. But to the men of this day it 
meant the earnest striving to make each smallest duty 
of life an acceptable service to God. In a stately 


1 Gen, xvii. 2 Gen. xxxy. 11-12, 














204 The Witness of Israel 


passage Ruskin discloses the inward meaning of all 
this ritual. He shows that in itself it was dangerous 
as tending to assimilate the worship of Jehovah to 
that of the heathen gods, and also needless to people 
who had in their own traditions far greater proofs of 
the divine power, and yet he nobly justifies its 
essential purpose. 


Was the glory of the tabernacle necessary to set forth 
or image His divine glory to the minds of His people? 
What! purple or scarlet necessary, to the people who had 
seen the great river of Egypt run scarlet to the sea, under 
His condemnation? What! golden lamp and cherub 
necessary, for those who had seen the fires of heaven falling 
like a mantle on Mount Sinai, and its golden courts opened 
to receive their mortal lawgiver? What! silver clasp and 
fillet necessary, when they had seen the silver waves of the 
Red Sea clasp in their arched hollows the corpses of the 
horse and his rider? Nay—not so. There was but one 
reason, and that an eternal one; that as the covenant that 
He made with men was accompanied with some external sign 
of its continuance, so the acceptance of that covenant might 
be marked and signified by men, in some external sign of 
their love and obedience, and surrender of themselves and 
theirs to His will; and that their gratitude to Him and 
continual remembrance of Him, might have at once their 
expression, and their enduring testimony, in the presenta- 
tion to Him, not only of the firstlings of the herd and fold, 
not only of the fruits of earth and the tithe of time, but 
of all treasures of wisdom and beauty ; of the thought that 
invents, and the hand that labours; of wealth of wood, 
and weight of stone; of the strength of iron, and the light 
of gold.* 

1 Seven Lamps, pp. 26-7. 





Prophets of the Return 205 


We have not yet grown beyond that lesson. So 
long as we are embodied selves will the need for 
outward expression of common worship remain, and 
the choicest human gifts find their highest consecration 
in such devotion. 

Further, the emphasis laid upon atonement and 
purification, and on guilt-offerings and sin-offerings, 
proved to be wonderfully effective in deepening the 
sense of sin and so preparing the way for a truer 
conception of holiness. Whilst many who lived under 
this law were content to rest there, striving for 
nothing higher than outward purity, the nobler spirits 
learned from its ceremonies their inward unworthiness, 
and yearned for deliverance. To some, the fact that 
the law was now established meant that the kingdom 
of God was come at last. But to others, greatest 
among them Paul, this law was not the goal but only 
a schoolmaster, to train and discipline and lead to a 
better Ruler. The view which criticism gives of the 
slow development of the law in Israel, beginning with 
the plain and simple provisions of the Book of the 
Covenant, going on to the centralized worship of 
Deuteronomy, and culminating in the cast-iron system 
of the priestly code, makes far more striking Paul’s 
philosophy of history in his Epistle to the Galatians. 
First, the free and simple worship of childhood, then 
the long submission to harder and yet harder rules 
of life, until all self-confidence and self-righteousness 
was purged away, and then finally the glad return to 


206 The Witness of Israel 


freedom of those who had been made fit to enjoy it. ‘ 


In this sense, then, the law took its place in the Wit- 
ness of Israel, as did the expectation of the suffering 
Servant. The fact that its significance was so little 
realized at the time only makes the future unfolding 


of its purpose more arresting. ~ 
Finally, it must not be forgotten that a simple 


and earnest piety was able to grow, even under the 7: 


shadow of the law. The many psalms that belong a 
to this period are our best witnesses to that truth. 
Humble and reverent in tone, dwelling rather on 


the history of the past than on any brilliant hopes 


for the future, they breathe the spirit of trust and 4 


faith. The law that taught such words as ‘I will 4 


walk at liberty, for I have sought Thy precepts,’ or 
‘Through Thy precepts I get understanding : therefore 
I hate every false way,’! was far more than a mere 
ritual bond. ee) 

As we look down the years that follow Nehemiah’s 5 ; 
residence in Jerusalem, we find little to show the course 
of the religion. Within the last few years, certain 
Aramaic papyri found at Elephantine, on the Nile, 


have, however, thrown unexpected light on the fortunes — i: 


of the Israelites outside Palestine. A letter has been 


discovered from the heads of the community at ss 
Elephantine, to Bagoas, the Persian governor of 


Judaea, complaining that their temple of Yahu 
(Jehovah) had been destroyed by Egyptian troops, 
1 Psa, oxix. 45, 104, 





Prophets of the Return 207 


egged on by priests, and begging for permission to 
rebuild. Thus we learn the extraordinarily interesting 
fact that the law of the central sanctuary, whose 
gradual growth we have observed, was not, even at 
this date, 410-407, recognized universally by wor- 
shippers of Jehovah. Into the many unanswered 
questions as to the origin of this community, whether 
they were descendants of those who carried off 
Jeremiah, or Samaritans, or even members of the lost 
ten tribes—all suggestions made by scholars of 
repute—we need not now enter.! But we see the 
Persian governor with his seat at Jerusalem. So long 
as he lived there, all Jewish national expectations 
were futile. The pious Jew had to devote himself to 
the worship of his God as, for the time, the one 
expression of his loyalty. 

Further events of this period include, probably, the 
erection of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, 
and the consequent heightening by those who remained 
faithful of the wall between themselves and the 
surrounding peoples. Meanwhile, as the Persian 
empire began to lose its hold upon its outlying colonies, 
Palestine formed once more the war-road across which 
the contending armies marched, Egypt, sometimes 
independent, sometimes vanquished, was always seeth- 
ing with rebellion against Persia. The lawless armies 
of mercenaries that passed through Judaea must have 


1. For this, see many recent articles in the Hap. and Hap. -T. 
and elsewhere, 


208 The Witness of Israel 


robbed and outraged in a hundred ways its hapless 
inhabitants. Towards the close of this period, during 
the reign of Artaxerxes III, Ochus, 361-338, Judaea 
became fatally involved in an attempt in which Egypt, 
Cyprus, and Phoenicia united to throw off the Persian 
yoke. But Artaxerxes, a soldier and statesman of the 
highest order, crushed his enemies, and deported many 
of the Jews to Hyrcania, on the shores of the Caspian 
Sea. The Jews once more lay helpless at the feet of a 
conqueror who did not fail to show his displeasure. 
Then, from the West, came the news of the brilliant 
victories of a new hero, Alexander the Great, and hope 
revived once more. 

In a previous chapter it has been shown how the 
conquests of Cyrus called forth the great prophecies of 
Isaiah xl-lv. It is probable, though many other 
suggestions have been made, that the wonderful 
chapters xxiv.-xxvii. of the same book reflect the hopes 
of an unknown prophet, who watched the progress of 
Alexander. Once more the overthrow of the oppressor 
seemed to mark the coming of the day of Jehovah. 
The whole earth is described as withering under a 
curse; vines decay, joy ceases, the city lies desolate. 


Voices are heard, borne from afar, of those who rejoice 


in this as a manifestation of Jehovah’s power, perhaps 






a. 


* 


el eS Ree ee eee ee a 


the loyal exiles who turn their eyes to Jerusalem and — 
expect her deliverance. But to the prophet such — 


rejoicings are premature. He heaps up images of 
destruction which is to overtake all earthly kings and 


Prophets of the Return 209 


all hostile heavenly powers. Then, with the darkening 
of sun and moon, Jehovah Himself comes to reign on 
Mount Zion. The following chapter, xxv., is made up 
of ‘songs and prophecies of redemption,’ describing the 
gladness of the new age, in which suffering and sorrow 
and even death are done away, and God will wipe 
away all tears. 

Next, the prophet pictures again the ideal future, 
towards which the faithful are still looking with wist- 
ful eyes. Then, thinking of those who im the weary 
years of the past had died unsatisfied, he declares 
that the divine power shall raise them even from the 
dead. 

Meantime let the faithful hide themselves till this 
storm of judgement is overpast, let them learn in 
secret the lessons of God’s forbearing discipline of His 
people, till with the sound of the trumpet all the 
scattered exiles shall be gathered home to worship in 
the holy mountain at Jerusalem. 

There is much here on which we might linger, 
phrases of perfect beauty that haunt the ear like music, 
above all, the great _hope of the resurrection, never _ 
before so ‘clearly expressed in the Old Testament, fruit- 
fulseet of teaching yet to come. But for our present 
purpose it is enough t to emphasize again the appearance 
‘of the enduring, invincible faith in Jehovah’s kingdom. 
‘A stronghold in the day of trouble,’ ‘an everlasting 
rock,’ keeping in perfect peace those that trust in Him, 


1 Isa. xxvi. 19. 





witness,’ 





CHAPTER VII 


THE COMING OF THE GREEKS 


The greatness of Athens—Philip of Macedonia—Career and con- 
quests of Alexander the Great—Disruption of Alexander’s 
empire—Zechariah ix.xiv.—The Messianic King—The 
murder of the good Shepherd—National humiliation and 
penitence—The coming glory—Relation of the Shepherd to 
the King—The Book of Jonah—Palestine under the Ptolemies 
—The Wisdom _literature—Job—Proverbs—Ecclesiastes— 
The Wisdom of the son of Sirach. 


he century which passed so wearily for the 


Jews in Jerusalem had seen Athens reach 
the summit of her fame and power. Under 
Pericles this wonderful republic was supreme both on 
land and sea. Within the city, adorned during this 
period with its most stately buildings, men who are 
world-famous, representing in many ways the highest 
point of human achievement, came in quick succession. 
What immortal memories are stirred by such names 
as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Herodotus, 
Xenophon, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides ! 
Yet Athens did not long retain her political 
supremacy. Thelong struggle between her and Sparta, 
together with the disastrous consequences of the defeat 


212 The Witness of israel 


of the expedition against Syracuse, ended in the down- 
fall of the Athenian empire. First Sparta, and then 
Thebes, became supreme. But the founder of the next 
great empire came from the hardier tribes of the North. 
While Athens refused to listen to the passionate 
warnings of the ‘great orator Demosthenes, Philip of 
Macedonia swooped down on the divided southern 
states of Greece, and finally, in 338 B.c., by his victory 
at the decisive battle of Chaeronea over the combined 
armies of Athens and Thebes, established himself as 
head of the Grecian peoples. 

Two years later, on Philip’s death, the sovereignty 
passed to his son Alexander, then a young man only 
twenty years of age. In the twelve years of life that 
remained to him he crowded warlike deeds enough to 
fill half a century. In that time he crossed the 
Hellespont and routed the Persians at Granicus and 
Issus, 333; captured Tyre after one of the most 
desperate sieges in history ; marched southwards and 
received the submission of Jerusalem; entered Egypt 
unopposed, and left the city of Alexandria as his 
memorial; passed north and east again across the 
Tigris to rout the remnants of the Persian army at 
Arbela ; and even entered India, and carried his troops 
on boats down the Indus to the ocean. Though at 
times violent and unrestrained in passion, the great 
conqueror was a statesman of comprehensive views. 
He formed a mighty scheme of a universal empire with 
entire political equality and religious toleration for the 





The Coming of the Greeks 213 


subject peoples. But in 323 his death at Babylon 
from fever cut short these schemes, and the empire fell 
apart and was divided among his generals. 

For some years after the conqueror’s death 
Palestine became once more the battlefield of contend- 
ing armies, In the division of the spoil, Ptolemy 
obtained Egypt, and Seleucus Syria and the northern 
provinces stretching eastwards to Babylon and beyond. 
Ptolemy, however, captured Jerusalem in 320, and, 
despite many conflicts, the Egyptian rulers held Judaea 
for more than a century, till 204 Bc. Ptolemy I 
deported many Jews to Egypt, while in Antioch and 
many cities of Asia Minor they settled in large 
numbers, and were admitted to the rights of citizen- 
ship. Hence, on the whole, this century was one of 
peace and prosperity. But in the first twenty years 
after Alexander’s death, the land was again and again 
cursed by war. It is probable that from these stormy 
years there came forth again the voice of prophecy, 
and to these utterances we now turn. 

At the close of the prophecies of Zechariah, con- 
tained in chapters i—viiil. of the book that bears his 
name, are six chapters as to whose origin and date the 
most various opinions have been expressed. By some 
they are considered as far older than Zechariah, parts 
of them being placed back in the days of Isaiah, before 
the fall of Samaria. By others they are set right 
down in the Maccabean era. It is quite impossible to 
enter here upon any discussion of these opinions, On 


: 
Y a) 
\4 





214 The Witness of Israel 


the whole, the weight of argument inclines to the 
beginning of the Greek period, and so, assuming this 
position, we proceed to outline their teaching as to the 
future.* 

Before Ptolemy had established his rule in Jerusa- 
lem, the people of Israel lay, as of old, between two 
rival kingdoms. To these the old names of Assyria 
and Egypt were still applied, Assyria in time being 
“shortened in the Greek into Syria. 

Looking out from Jerusalem, this prophet declares 
the divine judgement upon Syria, Phoenicia, and 
Philistia, so that the ideal borders of the kingdom of 

srael may be restored. Then he pictures the coming 
of the Messianic King, ‘just and victorious, lowly and 
iding upon an ass, even upon a colt, the foal of an 
ass. 8 The ass, it need hardly be pointed out, is 
named in contrast with the war-horse as the beast_of 
peace. At this Ruler’s coming, all instruments of war 


and from the river to the ends of the earth.’ Then the 


de be destroyed, and He shall reign ‘ from sea to sea, 


scattered Israelites, who are still Jehovah’s, bound to 
oe and still within His blood-sealed covenant, shall 
be gathered home.* If we compare this with Isaiah's 
Messianic Prince, we note the contrast in the attribute 


1 The older view is admirably expounded by Dr. Findlay, Books 
of the Prophets, vols. i, and ii. On the other side, see G, A, Smith, 
Driver, &c. 

2 Zech. ix. 1-8, 

3 Zech. ix. 9. 

4 Zech, ix, 11. 





The Coming of the Greeks 215 


of lowliness, EE Ce ee eee Se is to belong _ 


‘not to the worldly or godless party dominant in 


Jerusalem, but to-that-ef the oppressed pious. 
ee eine ix, 13-x. 
12, where Jehovah Himself appears and uses Israel 
as the warrior weapons against the enemy, really 
precede in thought what goes before them. The 
shepherds of chapter x. verse 3 are the godless foreign 
tyrants who are to be rooted out, while, like the Red 
Sea of old, the sea of affliction shall be divided before 
the ransomed exiles, 
Z Putting, then, the thoughts in order, we see the 
Pe aohats hope, fierce judgement on the oppressors, 
gathering home of the scattered Israelites, the advent 
of the King, and the inauguration of the reign of 





peace. 

But now the note seems to change altogether. 
In chapter xi. verse 4 the prophet is commissioned 
to go as a shepherd to his people, bought and sold by 
their possessors, as the fortunes of war throw Israel 
into the hands alternately of the rulers of Syria and 
Egypt. He goes amongst them with a message of 
God’s coming judgement on the earth; but with his 
staves called Graciousness and Union, he symbolizes 
Jehovah’s gracious purpose towards His own people, 
and the coming reunion of all the scattered tribes into 
a restored kingdom. By divine Providence, evil ruler 
after evil ruler is removed, perhaps signifying the 

1 Zech, x, 11, 





216 The Witness of Israel 


downfall of some of Alexander’s generals, a forecast 
of the fate that awaited them all. But in spite of 
all, the people remain stubbornly indifferent to the 
prophet’s message. He breaks the staff Graciousness, 
to show that God’s purpose of grace was changed. 
When he asks them whether they wish him to retain 
his office or not, they offer him contemptuously the 
price of a slave. At God’s command he casts this 
into the treasury,? to show that it was to Jehovah 
Himself this insulting price had really been paid in 
the person of His servant. Then, breaking the staff 
Union, he leaves them to their fate, and shows them, 
again in symbol, that a worthless shepherd will arise 
to rule them? 

What, then, has become of the earlier Loe ? Has 
the prophet given up his faith in the coming kingdom, 
and is the divine purpose finally frustrated? If not, 
can we track the course of his thought? We believe 
that the explanation is similar to that which we have 
given of the fact that in Isaiah, chapters xl.—-lv., the 
glorious visions of the future and the picture of the 
suffering Servant lie side by side. From his bright _ 
inane fhe peoehen Givnedto i to the actual state of the. 
people, and found them altogether unready and_unfit for 
the kingdom. How could this gulf be bridged? If we 
read his teaching aright, there is a striking likeness 
between his answer and that of Deutero-Isaiah. Nearly 


1 Zech, xi. 8. 2 Zech, xi, 13, R.V. &e. 
3 Zech, xi, 14-15, 





The Coming of the Greeks 217 


all expositors agree that the verses 7-9 in chapter xiii. 
are out of place where they stand, and are really the 
completion of chapter xi. These verses read— 


Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the 

man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; smite the 
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered ; and I will turn 
mine hand upon the little ones. 
Of whom is this said? By some it is referred to the 
foolish shepherd, whose fate is thus described. That 
he is Jehovah’s fellow means only, in this case, that 
he is the divine representative, perhaps some faithless 
high-priest. Hence, on this view, the passage ends in 
threatening. Only after the worthless shepherd has 
been removed, and the people purged by repeated 
chastisement, will a remnant be delivered. But if 
this is the right explanation, the passage is out of 
connexion with what follows, and must stand alone, 
and be assigned, as in fact it is by Nowack and others, 
to some different author. 

We cannot feel that so drastic a course is necessary. 

n the contrary, we believe that in his despair there 
dawned upon the prophet the vision of a good Shepherd 
who should be violently killed. Just as it was said 

f the righteous Servant.that he was ‘ stricken of God,’ 
so the death of this Shepherd was thought a proof of 
his guilt. But afterwards his murder should become 
recognized as a national crime. With bitter grief and 
tears of remorse they should mourn their guilt. As 
year by year the heathen mourn in the ritual of their 





218 The Witness of Israel 


dying god, so shall the Jews mourn over this repre- 
sentative of Jehovah, and own that in rejecting and — 
piercing him, they have rejected God Himself. Then 
/ a fountain for sin and for uncleanness will be opened 
Jerusalem. All idolatry and degraded prophecy 
/ shall be exterminated and the final redemption come.’ 

Two questions press for answer here. Whatisthe 
relation between this martyred Shepherd and the lowly _ 
King, and how does the prophet himself stand towards _ 
this figure? No definite reply canbe given. Wehave 
seen how, in Deutero-Isaiah, the Servant, victorious 
over death, seems united in thought with the ‘sure 
mercies of David.’ There is no such union suggested 
here. The lines do not meet as yet, a King who was 
lowly, a Shepherd slain unjustly, yet bringing peni- 
tence and forgiveness through his death; the prophet 
does not know in whom these two ideals may be 
blended. If history does know of One, it is surely a 
striking proof that the prophetic Witness was really 
slowly preparing for a great reality. 

The rest of these chapters contain vivid apocalyptic 
pictures of the future glory of Jerusalem, There are 
many references in them, such as the relation of 
Jerusalem to the surrounding Israelitish populations, 
which remain dark and unexplained. Many suggestions 
as to their application may be found in the commen- 
tators. But the old hopes remain the same. Jerusalem 
is again the storm-centre to which the hostile nations 

1 Zech, xii, 10 ff, ; xiii, 1-6, 





The Coming of the Greeks 219 


gather. Once it is captured and half its population 
carried away.1 Then Jehovah Himself appears. He 
stands on the Mount of Olives which rends beneath 
His feet, while through the chasm thus made the 
fugitives escape. Then begins the Messianic age. 
There is no more darkness, but one glad perpetual 
day. Jerusalem remains lifted on high, while the hills 
of Judah sink to a plain watered by streams of living 
water that flow from the Holy City. Terrible plagues 
and self-destructive quarrels will ravage Israel’s 
enemies. But those who survive will come to worship 
Jehovah the King in Jerusalem.? In this final glory 
we miss the figure of the Messianic King, a fact which 
is not surprising in the light of the variations in 
thought which we have marked in Isaiah and Ezekiel. 
It is with them, as so much later with Paul, the final 
goal of history, ‘that God may be all in all.’* But it 
would be as unsafe to a argue from their silence that 
they had outgrown their former teaching, as it would 
be absurd to maintain that in Paul’s great resurrection 
chapter there is any belittling of his Master. They 
uttered many words of hope whose fulfilment they 
never saw. But in face of Greece, as of Assyria or 
Babylonia or Persia, they still proclaimed with daunt- 
ess faith that their God was the one supreme and 
righteous Ruler of all mankind, and that His kingdom 
must come. 


1 Zech, xiv, 2, 2 Zech, xiv, 4 ff, 
3 1 Cor, xy. 28, 


220 The Witness of Israel 


One other voice from this period, or a little later, a 
must be listened to before we continue the history, — 
that of the author of the small but priceless Book 4 
of Jonah, of which Cornill has said, ‘I cannot read, — 
no nor even speak of this marvellous book without 
my heart beating quicker and my eyes filling with 
tears. The prophet of Zech. ix—xiv., despite his 
picture of the reign. of the lowly King, spoke with 
fierce gladness of the victorious Jews drenched in the 
blood of their foes. If a portion of the heathen world 
escaped the doom of the rest, they must become Jews 
and pay their ritual dues. But the Book of Jonah 
breathes throughout a gentler spirit. The rude sailors, 
the teeming crowds of Nineveh, the little children, the — 7 
helpless cattle, are all pitied by Jehovah, the Maker of 
them all. In the exquisite lesson drawn from the 
gourd, whose fate he had pitied, the sullen prophet is 
taught that all human compassion is only a reflection 
of far deeper compassion in God. In one of the most 
perfect endings in all literature we are left with the 
vision of the Creator brooding over the world’s great 
cities, and with the unanswered question, ‘Should not 
I have compassion ?’—must not God be pitiful if He 
is great? The further thought of the book that the 
Israelite was meant to be the missionary of the true 
God to the heathen world was not learnt by the people 
as a whole till long after. But this tiny book has a 
real and noble place in the Witness of Israel. 

1 Zech, ix. 15, &c. 


































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The Coming of the Greeks 221 


The comparatively peaceful years during which 
Israel was under the rule of the Ptolemies have left 
few notable incidents to reward the search of the 
historian. For a time Alexandria had succeeded to the 
place of Athens as the intellectual centre of the world. 
Here the Jews formed an extremely numerous and 
influential community. According to Philo, there were 
-in his day, about 70 B.c., no less than a million Jews 
living there. The meeting there of Jewish thought 
and Greek philosophy produced results of the highest 
importance, though for the most part they lie outside 
the scope of this book. In Palestine itself, in Galilee, 
on the east of the Jordan, and on the sea-coast, Greek 
cities were founded, and, as the Greek language became 
universally known, the thoughts and ideals which it 
expressed exerted a world-wide influence. In the Exile 
the loyal Israelite had met the foreign influences away 
from his home, and had proudly refused to be conquered 
by them. Deutero-Isaiah is the greatest illustration 
of such a victory. But now these influences invaded 
the Holy Land itself, and in far more subtle and 
attractive ways threatened to destroy the ancient 
faith. 

The literary expression of this period is found most 
fully in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament— 
Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, We note at once how 
from these books the national hopes are altogether 
absent. In Job the problem of the suffering of the 
righteous is discussed with marvellous power; but Job 


222 The Witness of Israel 


is not an Israelite, nor is there any thought that his 
sorrows are borne for others. The one solution thatis — 
offered is that man should humble himself before the 


transcendent majesty of God. The soul that recognizes 
the greatness of God and believes that all this glorious 
universe is controlled by Him, may trust Him even 
where it cannot understand. Similarly in the Proverbs, 
made up of many collections from different centuries, 
but probably now gathered into a book, there is no 
teaching as to the destiny of the nation. The wise 
men know the greatness of the power of Eastern kings 
for good or evil, but counsel the living of a quiet and 
submissive life. ‘My son, fear thou Jehovah and the 


king: and meddle not with them that are given to — 


change.’! This is a long way from the king-making 
prophets of earlier days. The book as a whole is 
shrewd in its counsel and keen in its analysis of 
character. It is marked by a reverent and earnest 
piety, and the keynote of the whole is, ‘The fear of 
Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge 
of the Holy One is understanding.’? The grand per- 
sonification of wisdom, culminating in chapter viil., 
with wisdom as the firstborn of the Creator, delighting 
in the sons of men, is noble and inspiring in itself, 
and of great importance in the development both of 
Alexandrine and Christian theology. We find here a 
truer conception of God than ever dawned upon a 
Greek thinker. But, as in Job, the teaching is not 


1 Proy, xxiy. 21, 2 Proy, ix. 10. 


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The" Coming of the Greeks 223 


concerned with the future of the Hebrew nation; for 
the time the hopes of prophecy seemed to be asleep. 
We may say the same of Heclesiastes. To this 
rather sombre mind the universe has no goal and 
mankind no destiny. Suns rise and set, winds veer 
and change, rivers flow ceaselessly into the sea, the 
daily round is endlessly repeated. Man is cribbed and 
confined, and can find no escape from the chains that 
bind him, The writer is without the strong personal 
sense of communion with God which taught other men 
to say, ‘Nevertheless I am continually with Thee.’ 
And yet in spite of all he believes in God! Cornill 
says strikingly that Old Testament piety never won a 
greater victory than in this book. Here is a man who 
sees all the world’s misery and unsolved riddles as 
clearly as a modern pessimist. He never shrinks from 
drawing the strict consequences of his thoughts. Yet 
the teaching of his childhood has so firm a hold on him 
that he never even dreams of suggesting the obviously 
simplest solution, and denying the existence of God, 
or declaring the world to be the sport of blind chance.! 
There is no need to assume, as is sometimes done, 
that the writer was a student of the Epicurean philo- 
sophy. The conditions of life in his day and his own 
early training are a sufficient explanation of the book, 
Its place in our canon of Scripture is justified by the 
thought that the Bible is a universal book meant to 
reflect all the changing moods of our complex human 
1 Cornill, Hinleitung in das A. T., p. 280. 












224 The Witness of Israel — 


nature. But in the river of revelation these chapters — 
seem to lie in some quiet and shadowy backwater, far — 
removed from the central stream. F 

For the time immediately before the troubles that 
ended in the Maccabean rising there is another witness _ 
in the Book of Jesus, the son of Sirach, preserved in the 
Apocrypha under the name Hcclesiasticus. The date of 4 
this book is guaranteed to us by the author’s grandson, 
who translated it into Greek in the year 132 B.c., and x 
by its glowing praise of the great high-priest Simon 
(circ. 218-198), who restored the temple. The writer 
shows that in his time our ‘minor prophets’ had been — 
gathered together in a collection of twelve? He 
delights in the gorgeous ritual of the law, and dwells — 
with enthusiasm on the worship. He has left a vivid — 
picture of the scribes travelling in foreign lands in 4 
quest of knowledge, meditating in the law of the Most — 
High, seeking out the wisdom of all the ancients, — 
occupied in prophecies.? But what concerns us here — 
is his view of the destiny of his nation. He mourns a 
the lowly state of his people and prays for deliverance _ 
from oppression, and for the fulfilment of the ancient — 
promises made to Abraham and confirmed to Isaac and 
Jacob— ; 


Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them 4 
for Thine inheritance as from the beginning. O Lord, — 
have mercy upon the people that is called by Thy name, — 


1 Keclus, 1. 2 Ecclus, xlix, 10. 
3 Eeclus, xxxix, 1-5, 


The Coming of the Greeks 225 


and upon Israel, whom Thou didst liken unto a firstborn. 
Have compassion upon the city of Thy sanctuary, Jerusalem, 
the place of Thy rest. Fill Sion, exalt Thine oracles, and 
fill Thy peoples with Thy glory. Give testimony unto those 
that were Thy creatures in the beginning, and raise up the 
prophecies that have been in Thy name.’ 


It is the omissions that strike us here. The writer 
does indeed pray ‘ Crush the heads of the rulers of the 
enemies, that say, there is none but we,’* but he makes 
no mention of the terrors of the day in which his 
prayer may be answered. He does not name the 
Messiah or the coming King, and has no message as to 
immortality. He knows that wisdom, coming forth 
from the Most High, found her dwelling-place in the 
beloved city, Jerusalem,’ but there is little trace of 
any narrowly national spirit, and one could hardly 
suppose such a man in sympathy with the militant 
Puritanism of Ezra. 

As a whole, the book confirms the view we have 
taken of the period of its origin. There was a real and 
sincere piety, but hope for the future had sunk into 
vague anticipations of brighter times to come. Some- 
times, as the older prophecies were read, hope began to 
revive, but faith was not strong enough to produce any 
national movement. Yet, once more, as in the days 
long past, foreign oppression was to show that the old 
heroic qualities were not dead, only sleeping. 


1 Heclus, xxxvi. 11-15. 2 Ecclus, xxxvi. 10, 
3 Heclus, xxiv. 11. 


CHAPTER VIII 
THE AGE OF THE MACCABEES 


The growth of the Roman power—Palestine under the Seleucidae 
—Greek influences—Antiochus Epiphanes attempts to ex- 
terminate the worship of Jehovah—The revolt of Mattathias 
—Victories of Judas Maccabaeus—Reconsecration of the 
temple—The Book of Daniel—Visions of the future—All 
centre on the attempt of Antiochus to destroy the worship— _ 
Contrast with the traditional explanation—The triumph of 
the kingdom the goal of history—Extra-canonical books— 
The Book of Enoch—The dream-visions—Sketch of the 
history from Judas to Herod—lHllusirative literature—The 
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs—Messianic hopes centred 
on Levi—The Similitudes of Enoch—The Son of Man— ~ 
His task of judgement—The Psalms of Solomon—Hope of 
the Davidic King revived—Hopes of the pious at the birth 
of Christ—Zechariah, Simeon, Anna—Conclusion—Essential 
universality of the religion of Israel—Is modern Judaism its 
true heir, or Christianity ? 


ahve years whose history we have been sketching 





a a 


had been marked by the rise of a new power 
in the West. As far back as the middle of 
the 5th century, while Ezra and Nehemiah were 
making the Jews the people of the law, the famous 
code known as the Laws of the Twelve Tables had 
been drawn up at Rome, engraved on copper, and 


—_ 


ae a 


ee 


The Age of the Maccabees 227 


set up in the Forum for all to see. Since that time 
Rome had established herself as mistress of Italy ; and 
by the conquest of Pyrrhus had taught the Greeks that 
the ‘barbarians’ of the West were henceforth a power 
to be reckoned with. Before, however, she could exert 
her influence in the East, the life-and-death struggle 
with Carthage had to be fought out. Attacked on her 
own soil by Hannibal, one of the greatest of the world’s 
soldiers, Rome suffered crushing defeats at Lake 
Trasimene and at Cannae. It was not till 207 B.c., at 
the famous battle of the Metaurus, that the tide finally 
turned, and it was decided that an Aryan and not a 
Semitic people should govern Europe. Meanwhile, in 
Palestine, the rule of the Ptolemies was finally ended 
in 204, and in 198 B.c. Jerusalem fell into the hands 
of Antiochus the Great of Syria without a struggle. 
For a time the condition of the Jews under these 
new rulers was favourable. Many of them settled as 
colonists in the new cities founded by Antiochus; and 
the kings themselves are said to have contributed to 
the cost of the sacrifices at Jerusalem. But presently 
loyalty to the political rulers began to be shown by a 
slavish adoption of their customs. When Antiochus 
Epiphanes began his reign in 175, these tendencies 
grew so strong that Jerusalem almost became a Greek 
city. The loyal high-priest, Onias, was deposed, and 
the semi-heathen Jason installed in his place. Greek 
dress was freely worn; the priests at the temple left 
1 1 Mace, iii. 3. 


228 The Witness of Israel 


their sacred duties to join in the Greek sports; and x 


Jason sent envoys to Tyre with offerings for a sacrifice _ 


to Hercules. When Antiochus visited Jerusalem in 
172, he was welcomed, in Greek style, with a torchlight 
procession. The pious party, henceforth known as the | 
Chasidim, seemed dispirited and helpless. 

Sordid disputes about the high-priesthood, which 
Menelaus had now obtained through bribery, brought 
on Jerusalem the wrath of the king. A three days’ — 
massacre in the streets destroyed many hundreds of 
the citizens. Then Antiochus, thwarted in his designs 
on Egypt by the Roman envoy who, according to the — 
well-known story, drew with his staff a circle in the 
sand around him, and bade him there and then decide _ 
to leave Egypt or to fight Rome, returned full of hatred 
to Palestine, and in 168 B.c., made his mad attempt to 
destroy the Jewish faith, Various explanations have 
been given of this policy. The writer of 1 Maccabees 
suggests that it was part of a general plan to secure 
religious solidarity throughout the whole kingdom, and 
to enforce Greek polytheism on all the subject races.? 
If so, it may have been that Antiochus, ambitious of 
founding an empire strong enough to cope with Rome, 
chose this course as the shortest way to unity. Others 
have supposed that he suspected the Chasidim of in- 
triguing with Egypt against his rule. But, whatever 
his purpose may have been, he roused against himself 
an opposition fiercer than he had ever dreamed. 

1 1 Mace, i. 41. 





The Age of the Maccabees 229 


The decree of uniformity was ruthlessly enforced. 
Jerusalem was seized and sacked, and a strong 
fortress, garrisoned by Syrian troops, commanded both 
temple and city. Jewish worship was abolished. 
The observance of Jewish rites was made punishable 
with death. Finally an altar to Zeus Olympios was 
erected on the great altar of burnt-offering itself. Yet 
when the officers of Antiochus went through the land 
to coerce the inhabitants they found many who were 
ready to die for their faith. Noble stories of heroism 
illumine these dark days; of those who ‘ were tortured 
not accepting their deliverance’; of mothers who cheered 
on their sons to be faithful unto death.) Finally, at 
the village of Modein, in the Shephelah, was found the 
famous family that led the way to victory, and for the 
last time established Judaea as an independent state. 

Mattathias, father of Judas Maccabaeus, was a man 
of priestly family, high in influence in his native town. 
When the king’s officer called him to sacrifice to Zeus 
he refused with indignant words. Then, deeply stirred 
at the sight of a Jew going forward to do homage, he 
killed both the renegade and the officer, and with 
his sons fled to the mountains.” Joined there by 
groups of like-minded patriots, they went through the 
land destroying all idolatrous symbols, 


and smote sinners in their anger and lawless men in their 
wrath. . . . And they rescued the law out of the hand of 


1 See the stories given in 2 Maccabees, 
2 1 Mace. ii, 15-28, 


230 The Witness of Israel 


the Gentiles, and out of the hand of the kings, neither 4 
suffered they the sinner to triumph.’ 


Mattathias died in 166, and left Judas, his third son, — 
to take his place as leader. Few struggles can have 
seemed more hopeless at the outset than that on which 
this little band of patriots now entered. They had ~ 
arrayed against them not only the military power of 
Syria, but also many of their own countrymen, who 
were tired of isolation, and wishful to accept the 
religion and the culture of the civilized world. Yet 
Judas won victory after victory, routed the chosen 
generals of Antiochus, regained possession of Jerusa- 
lem, though the citadel remained uncaptured, and, on 
December 25, 165, rededicated the purged temple, 
where sacrifice to Jehovah was offered once more.” 

It is now generally received that to this period we 
owe the last, and certainly one of the greatest and most ; ; 
important, books of the Old Testament, the Book of 
Daniel. The patriot author of this book was one in 
whom the old fire of prophecy was kindled once more, 
so that he painted in glowing colours the glorious 
future. Building upon stories handed down by tradition 
of the experiences of Daniel four centuries before in 
Babylon, the prophet expounded for the men of his own | 
day his great thesis that all history has | been and still 


is, controlled by the God of Israel, and is leading up 


—— 


to a destined end. We need not be astonished that 
imaginative writing of this sort should find its place in 
1 1 Mace, ii, 44-48. * 1 Mace, iv. 52-83. 








The Age of the Maccabees 231 


the Bible. When we consider the Eastern love for 
stories, witnessed to so constantly in the teaching of 
our Lord, we expect to find the same method of in- 
struction in the Old Testament as well. It may well 
be one of the ‘divers forms’ in which God spake unto 
the fathers. At any rate, if sober examination of what 
this book actually contains leads to such a conclusion 
we may reverently admit that God has not disdained 
to use such a method, and must not shut our minds 
against the truth because of any personal prejudices.! 


1 Dr. C. H. H. Wright, a veteran scholar, who has just died, 
defended to the last the older view, that the book belongs to 
the 6th century B.c. But in order to do this he is obliged to 
assume that chapters xi. and xii. have been freely altered by a 
writer living in Maccabean times. On chapter xi. he remarks, 
‘The chapter is in the main an explanatory paraphrase, and 
not the original prophecy.’ Again, speaking of the ‘vast and 
profound influence’ which the book exerted from the times from 
Antiochus Epiphanes downwards, he remarks, ‘It may be safely 
admitted that the closing prophecy of Daniel im its present form 
cannot be proyed to go back to an earlier period than 164 B.c.’ 
Dr. Wright supports his view, that the additions to these chapters 
are of later date than the rest of the book, by linguistic arguments 
which do not seem at all conclusive. But his concessions should at 
least show that the question of the date of the book as a whole is 
not a question of faith or rationalism, but one of sound judgement. 
Dr. Driver’s Introduction and Commentary in the Cambridge Bible 
Series gives a careful and reverent exposition of the position we 
have adopted. A similar view was taken by Westcott in his article 
on Daniel in Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Dr. Orr admits the difficulty 
of chapter xi., and seems prepared to grant a redaction of that 
chapter in Maccabean times, but still wishes to adhere to the 
traditional interpretation, hardly a tenable position. His suggestion 
(The Bible wnder Trial, p. 140, &c.) that the modern position has 
been overthrown by archaeology should be compared with Dr. 
Driver’s notes on the history, especially the remarks about Bel- 
shazzar, pp. 28, &c. His remark that ‘the “ linguistic” objection 






232 The Witness of Israel 


in the story of Nebuchadrezzar’s dream in chapter ii., a 


and the vision of the four beasts in chapter vii. In 
chapter viii. a further vision of the contest between 
the ram and the he-goat, with the subsequent coming 
forth of the little horn, culminates in the desecration 
of the sanctuary and the interruption of the daily 
sacrifice for 2,300 half-days. This vision is explained 
by the angel! as referring to the overthrow of Persia 
by Greece, the subsequent splitting up of the Greek 
empire in four, doubtless on Alexander’s death, and 
then the coming of a king of hard countenance, 
and a master in dissimulation, who must be Antiochus 
Epiphanes. In chapter ix. Jeremiah’s prophecy of 
seventy years’ captivity is expounded as meaning 
seventy weeks of years, divided into seven, sixty-two, 
and one. At the end of the first seven weeks, ‘an 
anointed one, a prince, was to come. Then, for 
sixty-two weeks, i.e. 434 years, the city was to remain 
rebuilt, though in straitened times. Then, at the 
beginning of the last week, ‘the anointed’ one would 


is not more potent,’ because Greek words may have been known in 
the Hast earlier than is sometimes supposed, is a surprising under- 
statement of the facts, A remark by Dr. Sayce, who is certainly 
no friend to the ruling school in criticism, may be added : ‘In the 
eyes of the Assyriologist the use of the word Kasdim (Chaldeans) in 
the Book of Daniel would alone be sufficient to indicate the date of 
the work with unerring certainty.’ That is really what Archaeology 
as Searchlight reveals. 

1 Dan, viii. 20 ff, 

? Dan, ix. 26 ff. 


The Age of the Maccabees 233 


be cut off, and the people of an unnamed prince 
should destroy city and sanctuary. For half the last 
week the sacrifice and oblation should cease. Finally 
the oppressor should meet his destined doom. 

The last three chapters contain an outline sketch 
of the history from Cyrus downwards to Antiochus 
Epiphanes. Many events during that period are 
described quite unambiguously. There is no need 
to dwell on this, as it is generally admitted by 
commentators of every school. Once more, the chief 
crime alleged against the impious king is the pro- 
fanation of the sanctuary and the cutting off of the 
burnt-offering. Yet the oppressor shall meet his 
doom, and the dead Israelites be raised, for glory or 
for shame, in the final kingdom.?._ The book ends with 
a further prophecy defining the duration of the perse- 
cution.3 

As we look back over this series of visions, one 
thing seems certain, that they all culminate in the 
same event which, in each case, precedes the final 
manifestation of divine power. That event can hardly 
have been anything but the sacrilegious persecution of 
Antiochus. The prophet’s own exposition in chapter 
viii. seems decisive on that point. Hence we conclude 
that while the persecution was raging he was raised up 
‘to strengthen the courage of his own people, and that 
he did, with invincible faith, predict the overthrow of 
Antiochus. 


1 Dan. xi. 31. 2 Dan, xii. 2. * Dan. xii, 11-19, 


234 The Witness of Israel 


The chief alternative exposition to this is one that 
has had so long a history in the Christian Church 
that it cannot be passed over in silence. The seventy 
weeks, or 490 years, of chapter ix. are supposed 
to culminate in Christ. The inaccurate rendering of 
verses 25-7 in the Authorized Version is a striking 
proof how far presuppositions may determine a trans- 
lation, Really the only thing in favour of this 
explanation is the fact that reckoning back 486-7 
years (691 x 7) from 29 a.p., the date of the Crucifixion, 
we arrive at 458 B.c., the date of Ezra’s mission. Not 
only, however, do we know of no decree to build the 
walls at that time, but further, we know of no crisis at 
all three and a half years after the Crucifixion. More- 
over, the destruction of the temple by Titus, 70 A.D., 
which is supposed to be predicted in verse 26, falls 
right outside the 490 years altogether. Indeed, one is 
convinced that the fact that any case at all has been 
made out for a reference here to our Lord’s death is a 
coincidence in numbers and nothing more. It is not 
denied that no completely satisfactory account has 
been given, on any theory, of these 490 years. Other 
interpretations suggest either that the prophet is 
reckoning in round numbers, or has made somewhere 
a chronological error. But it cannot be too earnestly 
pointed out that if we suppose that a date in the 
distant future had been supernaturally revealed to the 
prophet, then the smallest possibility of error must be 
excluded. This seems fatal to the older interpretation. 





The Age of the Maccabees 235 


But, on the other hand, if the prophet, like others 
before him, is speaking in round numbers, then 
the exactness or otherwise of the numbers makes no 
difference to the essential meaning of the prophecy. 
We cannot pursue this matter further, save to repeat 
that the interpretation of these verses is not at all a 
matter of faith, but one of judgement. We do not 
deny the possibility of such exact prediction as is 
sometimes supposed to exist here. But we claim that 
it has been read into the text, and is not really to be 
discovered there. 

Let us now return to describe the visions of the 
future that the prophet saw. He saw the great 
pageant of history moving onwards, while nation after 
nation climbed to the seat of power; but at the end he 
declared that_all these must pass away, and the king- 
_dom of God_be set up. The triumph of the kingdom 
is the goal of history. In chapter ii. the nations are 
represented as parts of a great image, fashioned by 
human art of gold and silver, brass and iron and clay. 
The kingdoms are Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece. 
Then came a stone cut out without hands—a kingdom 
made by no human artificer, but shaped by.God Himself 
—which smote the image into fragments, and then 
grew to a mountain which filled the whole earth. In 
chapter vil. the same four nations are represented by 
beasts—the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the terrible 
nameless beast of verse 7. Out of this last proceeded 
the little horn, with its proud and impious boasts. 





236 The Witness of Israel 





appears, and the empires of the beasts are destroyed. ‘ : 
Then, on the clouds of heaven, comes one like unto a q 
son of man, and on him an everlasting and universal — 
dominion is bestowed. This figure like the son of 
man is explained in verse 27 to represent the kingdom 
of the saints of the Most High. In contrast with the 
bestial kingdoms of the heathen, this final kingdom is 
to be human and spiritual; and, ‘coming on the clouds ~ 
of heaven,’ in contrast with the nations that ‘rose out 
of the sea,’ it is to be ushered in by God’s own power, 
and not by any earthly violence or force. S 

We need not trace further the limitations which are 
prophesied to the tyranny of Antiochus, save to remark 4 
again how in the closing vision the faith of the prophet B 
declares the resurrection of the Israelites who have _. 
died, raised from the dusty ground either to everlasting 
life, or to everlasting abhorrence. 

Looking back over these visions we see how 
gloriously this prophet bore his witness to the certainty _ 
of Jehovah’s victory, and how triumphantly his faith 
was vindicated. Doubtless he thought the kingdom _ 
would come as soon as Antiochus was overthrown. 
But in this he was only like all his predecessors, like 
Isaiah, who thought of the child Immanuel as already 
conceived ; or Haggai or Zechariah, who hoped so much 
from Zerubbabel. They saw the promise, and hailed 
it from afar, and their faith destroyed time and 


The Age of the Maccabees 237 


annihilated distances. But each in his own day 
declared with new emphasis the Witness of Israel, 
that God’s kingdom must prevail. 

For our guide through the interval of more than 
one hundred and fifty years which separates the 
writing of the Book of Daniel from the birth of our 
Lord, we must take the Jewish books that lie outside 
the canon of the Old Testament. During this time 
two great streams of influence, Persian and Greek, 
were flowing into and mingling with Hebrew thought. 
We who believe that the Spirit of God is always at 
work in the world, and that all that is pure and 
good in every religion descends from the Father of 
lights, may not neglect or disparage the truths that 
were emphasized here. The faith in immortality, 
about which Plato had written so nobly, and which 
had been taught so strongly by Zoroastrianism, here 
became the possession of the Jewish people as a 
whole. Hence the belief in the kingdom of God 
became severed from much that was merely national 
and particular, and the way was prepared for the 
universal teaching of the gospel. This period has 
been till recent years much neglected by Christian 
scholars. Yet it is becoming more and more evident 
that without a knowledge of it a sound understanding 
of much of the New Testament is not possible. 

Here all that can be done is to outline the teach- 
ing as to the coming kingdom and the person of the 
Messiah, This last hope in particular, which had sunk 





































238 The Witness of Israel 7 


into the background during the last two centuries, was — 
now revived once more.? ’ 

The first work to which reference must be made is — 
the Book of Enoch. This book was well known to the — 
writers of the New Testament, and is directly quoted — 
in the Epistle of Jude. It was held in high esteem by _ 
the Christian fathers till towards the close of the 3rd 
century A.D., and regarded by some of them as having 
the seathaotiig of Scripture. 

It is supposed to contain the words of Enoch, 
who is described as ‘a righteous man, whose eyes — 
were opened by God, that he might see a vision of the — 
Holy One in the heavens.’? Jewish legend regarded 
Enoch as the father of arithmetic and astronomy, ; # 
and there is much curious speculation and folk-lore 
in the book. Critics consider that as it stands it 
is by many different hands; but there is one section, — 
the dream-visions of chapters Ixxxili-xc., which ~ 
Dr. Charles decisively assigns to the time of the 


1 A study of; the thought is given in Dr. Fairweather’s articleon 
the ‘Development of Doctrine’ in Hastings’ D.B. vol. y.; more 
fully in his recent book, The Background of the Gospels. Dr. R.H. 
Charles’s many books on the period, together with his articles in _ 
the D.B. and Enc. Biblica, are indispensable for the serious student. _ 
Bousset’s Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter 
is a mine of wealth. Popular works on the history are Waddy Moss, ~ 
From Malachi to Matthew; Fairweather, From the Exile to the — 
Advent; and Shailer Mathews, A History of New Testament Times 
in Palestine. The First Book of Maccabees is now edited in the 
Cambridge Bible Series. af 

2 See the reference in Charles’s edition, pp. 38-41. 

3 Enoch i, 2. 


The Age of the Maccabees 239 


Maccabean struggle. Here there is given a sketch of 
the history from Adam to the final judgement and the 
establishment of the Messianic kingdom. As in Daniel, 
men are symbolized by animals. The faithful of the 
latter days are represented by sheep, the Gentiles by 
wild beasts and birds of prey. The coming of Judas 
Maccabaeus is described as the appearance of a sheep 
with a great horn which does many valiant deeds.? 
Finally all the hostile nations, ‘eagles and vultures 
and ravens and kites ... and all the sheep of the 
field, ? assemble together against him for the last 
conflict. In this extremity God Himself comes down. 


And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them 
and took the staff of His wrath into His hand and smote 
the earth so that it was rent asunder, and all the beasts and 
the birds of the heaven fell away from the sheep, and sank 
in the earth and it closed over them.* 


Then the sheep are given a great sword, with which 
they drive their enemies before them. Afterwards ‘in 
the pleasant land’ the judgement throne is set, and the 
Lord of the sheep takes His seat. The sealed books 
are opened, and the fallen angels, with the angels 
who had failed in their charge to keep Israel, are 
hurled into the abyss of fire, whilst the blinded sheep, 
the apostates, are likewise cast into Gehenna* Next 
follows the removal of the old Jerusalem and the 


1 Enoch xe. 9. 


? i.e. the apostate Jews of the Hellenistic party, 
* Enoch xe. 18. 
* Enoch xe, 19-26. 


240 The Witness of Israel 






















setting up of the new, in which is the Lord of the © 
sheep. Then all of the Gentiles who are left alive - 
turn and do homage to the sheep, and the — of — 
the dispersion are gathered home— PY 


And all that had been destroyed and dispersed, and all 
the beasts of the field and all the birds of the heaven 
assembled in that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced _ 
with great joy because they were all good and had rebinned Bi 
to His house.’ 


Lastly there is born ‘a white bull, ? by which doubtless ‘ 
the Messiah is meant, and all the members of the — 
kingdom are transformed and brought back to the 
primitive righteousness of Eden, where Adam had — 
been symbolized by a white bull. There are many q 
things that arrest our notice here. The certainty of — 
the coming kingdom is proclaimed, but there is a 
great advance in the teaching of future rewards and : 
_ punishments. The converted heathen find a welcome _ 
in the house of the Lord of the sheep, which is ‘large 
and broad and very full.’* The figure of the Messiah 
is vague, and he does not appear at all till the work ol 
is over and the victory achieved. This is the earliest 
appearance of the Messiah in non-canonical literature. 
These chapters are of very great value as the work of 
a contemporary of the author of Daniel. q 

It is now necessary to return to the history follow- 
ing the reconsecration of the temple by Judas. Fora — 4 


1 Enoch xc. 33. 2 Enoch xe, 37. 
3 Enoch lxxxv, 3, 4 Enoch xe, 36, 


The Age of the Maccabees 241 


brief period he was master of Judaea, and relieving the 
besieged garrisons of his faithful fellow countrymen in 
Gilead and Galilee, brought the survivors to Jerusalem.! 
But the power of Syria was not yet broken, and in 
162 Judas was compelled to deliver over the city, the 
Syrians, however, engaging to protect the Jews in their 
national worship and to respect their laws.? Alcimus, 
a manof Aaronic descent but of Hellenistic sympathies, 
was appointed as high-priest. Thus the war for re- 
ligious freedom was over, and the attempt to destroy 
the worship of Jehovah had failed. But the Maccabees 
were not content with this, and, whilst many of the 
pious party now deserted them, they continued to 
strive for national independence. After one more 
glorious victory over the Syrian Nicanor, Judas was 
crushed by overwhelming numbers, and died like a 
hero at Elasa, 161.2 His brother Jonathan lived at 
first the life of an outlaw, but ultimately by a triumph 
of diplomacy obtained possession of Jerusalem, and in 
153 assumed the high-priesthood. In 143 the last and 
perhaps the ablest of this famous family of brothers, 
Simon, succeeded to his brother’s office, and by 
capturing the Syrian citadel of Jerusalem, which had 
remained unsubdued through all these years, really 
became head of an independent nation. Then in 
solemn conclave, attended by priests, people, princes 
of the people and elders, Simon was appointed ‘leader 
1 1 Mace, v, 21-46, &e. ? 1 Mace. vi. 60. 
5 1 Mace, ix. 
R 


242 The Witness of Israel 





and high-priest for ever, until there should arise a 
faithful prophet.’! The writer of 1 Maccabees gives 
a glowing picture of the happiness enjoyed under 
Simon’s rule. He is one of the most attractive figures 
in Hebrew history. 

Simon’s successor, John Hyrcanus, 135-105, largely 
increased the Jewish territory and had an outwardly 
prosperous reign. But in his time marked dissensions 
of thought made themselves felt, which are so im- 
portant for the understanding of the remaining litera- 
ture that we must stay to consider them. 

In the days of Judas there had been, roughly 
speaking, three parties, the Hellenizers, the Macca- 
beans, and the Chasidim or pious. So long as religious 
liberty and the sanctity of the law were in question, 
the Chasidim stood by the Maccabeans. But when 
Jonathan assumed the high-priesthood, and high-priest 
and king became one, and spiritual ends were made 
subservient to worldly ambition, then the Chasidim 
began to separate themselves and to resent the rule of 
the new dynasty. From this time this party becomes 
known as ‘the Pharisees,’ the separated ones. 

On the other hand, the Hellenizers, supporters of 
the old aristocratic high-priesthood, and known as 
Sadducees (derived from Zadok, Solomon’s priest), now 
attached themselves to the Maccabean rulers, and 
ardently supported their ambitious policy. 

The Pharisees had an inward contradiction in their 

1 1 Mace, xiv. 41, 


The Age of the Maccabees 243 


thought which they could not reconcile. To them the 
ideal state was a theocracy in which there was no room 
for a king. On the other hand, they had as an in- 
heritance from the prophets the ideal of the perpetual 
kingdom of David. The real solution in a kingdom 
not of this world, reaching far beyond any purely 
national limits, was outside their vision. Hence they 
gave themselves more and more passionately to the 
task of preserving all that was national and particular 
in their faith. The result was the fanatical patriotism 
of the final struggle with Rome. 

John Hyrcanus and his successors allied themselves 
with the Sadducees. Under Alexander Jannaeus, 
104-78, the breach between the parties resulted in 
civil war, in which 50,000 Jews are said to have 
perished and 800 Pharisees to have been crucified. 
Alexander’s wife, Alexandra, who succeeded him, made 
peace with the Pharisees, but the disputes between 
her sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus, brought down 
the Romans upon Palestine. After a desperate re- 
sistance the temple was stormed and taken by Pompey 
in June, 63, and although Hyrcanus was allowed to 
remain as high-priest, the independence of the Jewish 
nation was at an end. 

A very few lines suffice to tell the rest of the story. 
Hyrcanus was a mere puppet in the hands of Antipater, 
the Idumaean, the father of Herod the Great. Anti- 
pater’s subservience to Rome roused the Jewish spirit 
once more, and Antigonus, last of the Maccabean 


244 The Witness of Israel 


dynasty, succeeded for two years in establishing him- 


self as king at Jerusalem. But in 37 Bc. Herod, 
supported by the Romans, once more took the sacred 


city by storm, Antigonus was captured and executed, a 


and Herod assumed the kingship, reigning from 37-4 3 
B.C. During his reign, marked by his splendid recon- 


struction of the temple, Judaea was peaceful and — 


prosperous. But his vengeful and jealous nature ee 


wrought terrible havoc in his own family, and he 
became the murderer both of his wife and his sons. 
From the mass of literature belonging to this period 
we may select three works as showing the development 
of Jewish hopes for the future. The first of these, The 
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, has had a romantic 
literary history. Dr. Charles has given good reason 
for showing that it was well known to our Lord and — 


to the writers of the New Testament. In its ethical 


teaching it often rises very high. One may quote the — 
words about forgiveness— 


_ Love ye one another from the heart ; and if a man sin 

against thee, speak peaceably to him, and in thy soul hold 
not guile; and if he repent and confess forgive him... . 
But if he be shameless and persist in his wrong-doing, 
even so forgive him from the heart, and leave to God the 
avenging.’ 


We can see at once how welcome such words must 
have been to those who were baptized into the spirit 
of Jesus. Yet very early in the Christian era the 

17, Gad. vi. 3-7. 





The Age of the Maccabees 245 


book fell into disrepute, and after suffering many in- 
terpolations practically disappeared, till, in the 13th 
century, Robert Grosseteste, the great Bishop of Lincoln, 
published a Latin translation, which at once acquired 
great popularity. Since then many scholars have dealt 
with it; but we owe what seems likely to be the final 
solution of its problems to the unremitting labours of 
Dr. Charles, from whose edition the references of this 
chapter are taken.? 

Dr. Charles shows that the main portion of the 
book must have been written during the reign of John 
Hyrcanus before his breach with the Pharisees. Its 
author, an ardent admirer of Hyrcanus, and at the 
same time a loyal adherent of the Chasidim, believed 
that the peace and prosperity of this reign showed 
that the Messianic age was already come, and hailed 
the king, who combined in himself the threefold office 
of prophet, priest, and king, as the long-looked-for 
Messiah, 

Seeing that the Maccabean family did not belong 
to the tribe of Judah it was necessary to transfer the 
ancient hopes from Judah to Levi. Hence we have 
the remarkable fact that for a generation the Jewish 
Messianic hope was centred in Levi. We may quote 
Dr. Charles’s summary of the prerogatives and powers 
of this Messiah. 


He was to be free from sin; to walk in meekness and 


1 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, translated from the 
editor’s Greek text, by R. H, Charles, A. & C. Black, 1908. 


246 The Witness of Israel 


righteousness ; to establish a new priesthood under a new 
name, and also be a mediator for the Gentiles ; likewise he 
was to be a prophet of the Most High; to be a king over 
all the nation; to war against Israel’s national enemies 
and against Beliar and the powers of wickedness, and 
deliver the captives taken by him, even the souls of the 
saints; to open Paradise to the righteous; and give the 
saints to eat of the tree of life. Moreover, he should give 
the faithful power to tread upon evil spirits and bind 
Beliar, who should be cast into the fire, and sin should 
come to an end.’ 


We have only space for one fine passage in illus- 
tration, taken from the Testament of Levi :— 


Then shall the Lord raise up a new priest. 

And to him all the words of the Lord shall be revealed ; 

And he shall execute a righteous judgement upon the 
earth for a multitude of days. 

And his star shall arise in heaven as of a king, 

Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun the day, 

And he shall be aes in the world. 


The heavens shall be eee 

And from the temple of glory shall come upon him 
sanctification, 

With the Father’s voice as from Abraham to Isaac. 

And the glory of the Most High shall be uttered over 
him, 

And the spirit of understanding and sanctification shall 
rest upon him. 

For he shall give the majesty of the Lord to His sons 
in truth for evermore ; 


1 Op. cit. p. xcviii. 






a 
a 


The Age of the Maccabees 247 


And there shall none succeed him for all generations 
for ever. 

And in his priesthood the Gentiles shall be multiplied 
in knowledge upon the earth, 

And enlightened through the grace of the Lord : 

In his priesthood shall sin come to an end, 

And the lawless shall cease to do evil. 

And he shall open the gates of Paradise, 

And shall remove the threatening sword against Adam. 

And he shall give to the saints to eat from the tree 
of life, 

And the spirit of holiness shall be on them. 

And Beliar shall be bound by him, 

And he shall give power to his children to tread upon 
the evil spirits. 

And the Lord shall rejoice in His children, 

And be well-pleased in His beloved ones for ever. 


No Christian reader can fail to be deeply impressed 
with words like these, nor wonder that they have been 
regarded as a direct prophecy of our Lord. We need 
not shrink from seeing in them part of Israel’s Witness 
to the world, the carrying forward under the divine 
guidance of the hopes of the past. 

The writer of the Testaments, like so many of the 
great canonical prophets, had to taste all the bitterness 
of disillusionment and disappointed hopes. John 
Hyrcanus at the close of his reign deserted the party 
of the Chasidim, and joined the worldly and Hellenizing 
Sadducees. The indignation of the faithful is reflected 
in the part of the Book of Enoch known as the 


1 T, Levi xviii, 2-13, 


248 The Witness of Israel 


Similitudes, chapters xxxvii-lxx., written probably 
between 94-79 B.c. before the coming of the Romans. 
The kings and the mighty ones are now denounced as 
having outraged God’s children and shed their blood, 
and are threatened with expulsion from the houses of 
God’s congregations, and with terrible chastisements 
in hell. 

The historical connexion seems plain, Weary of 
his strife with the Pharisees, Alexander Jannaeus asked 
them to name their conditions of peace. Their sole 
answer was ‘thy death,’ and terrible scenes of bloodshed 
followed. From the present the writer of the Simili- 
tudes looked away to the future, and drew a picture 
which was unique in Jewish expectations. No longer 
looking for a human deliverer, he declared the advent 
of a Messiah who had been pre-existent from the begin- 
ning, and who sits on the throne of God. This Messiah 
is called the Son of Man. ‘Before the suns and the 
signs were created, before the stars of the heaven 
were made, his name was named before the Lord of 
spirits. 2 He is the Elect One standing before the 
Lord of spirits, and his glory is for ever and ever, 
and his might unto all generations.’ Judgement is 
committed to him— 


And he sat upon the throne of his glory, and the sum 
of judgement was committed unto him, the Son of Man, 


1 Hnoch lxii, 11-12; xlvii, 1-2; xlyvi. 8. 
2 Enoch xlyiii. 3, 
3 Enoch xlix, 2, 






The Age of the Maccabees 249 


and he caused the sinners and those who have led the 
world astray to pass away and be destroyed from off the 
face of the earth. 


He is described in wonderful terms— 


And I saw One who had a head of days, and His head 
was white like wool, and with Him was another Being whose 
countenance had the appearance of a man and his face was 
full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels. 

On that day Mine Elect One will sit on the throne 
of glory, and make choice amongst their deeds, and their 
mansions will be innumerable, and their souls will grow 
strong within them when they see Mine elect ones and 
those who have called upon My glorious name. 


Heaven and earth will be made new, and the Elect 
One will dwell among his people.* One perfect passage 
more must be quotéd, whose beauty contrasts strangely 
with the fiercely anticipated punishment of the 
wicked— 

And in that place I saw a fountain of righteousness 
which was inexhaustible: around it were many fountains 
of wisdom, and all the thirsty drank of them and were 


filled with wisdom, and had their dwellings with the 
righteous and holy and elect.° 


Dr. Charles points out that four titles applied for 
the first time in literature to the personal Messiah in 
the Similitudes are afterwards reproduced in the New 
Testament. These are ‘Christ’ or ‘the Anointed One,’ 


1 Enoch lxix, 27. 2 Enoch xlvi, 1. 
3 Enoch xly. 3. * Enoch xlvy, 4-5. 
5 Enoch xlviii. 1, 


“in 
a. 
% ? 


250 The Witness of Israel 





‘the Righteous One,’ ‘the Elect One,’ and ‘the Son of 
Man. The most significant fact is the use made of 
the title ‘the Son of Man,’ no longer as in Daniel a 
personification of the nation, but a definite personal 
name. The judgement committed to this Son of Man 
is of special importance when we think of the New 
Testament references to the Son of Man seated on his 
judgement throne. We cannot doubt that these passages 
were known to our Lord, and since He Himself used 
them we need not fear to see in them a living part of 
the Witness of Israel. 

The last evidence we shall quote is that found in 
the Psalms of Solomon. These were certainly written 
after Pompey’s invasion of Palestine, and spring from 
the party of the Pharisees. They represent more clearly 
than any other writing we possess the hopes regarding 
the Messiah which prevailed shortly before the birth 
of Jesus. The writer has finally broken with the 
thought that any member of the ruling family can 
bring back Israel’s glory. He denounces the Macca- 
bean princes as having ‘laid waste the throne of 
David,’ ! and as having been rightly punished by ‘a 
man that was a stranger to our race,’ ie. Pompey. To 
him the only hope is in the coming of the long-promised 
king of David’s house. At first he prays for this 
Deliverer, but soon his prayer goes out into confident 
expectation, and he draws a full-length portrait of the 


1 Ps. Sol, xvii. 8. The translation is from the edition of Ryle 
and James. 


The Age of the Maccabees 251 


King Messiah. He is coming to drive out the Gentiles 
from the borders of Israel, and to break the power of 
all unjust rulers. Into his peaceable and holy kingdom 
all the dispersed of Israel shall be gathered, and he will 
reign in Jerusalem. The subject Gentiles shall bring 
their tribute to him and accept the true religion. A 
few verses may be quoted in illustration— 


A righteous king and taught of God is he that reigneth 
over them; and there shall be no iniquity in his days in 
their midst, for all shall be holy, and their king is the Lord 
Messiah.* 

The blessing of the Lord is with him in might, and 
his hope in the Lord shall not faint. And who can stand 
up against him? He is mighty in his works and strong in 
the fear of God, tending the flock of the Lord with faith 
and righteousness; and he shall suffer none among them 
to faint in their pasture.” 


It should be noted that the Messiah thus portrayed 
is not divine. There is no mention here, as in the 
Similitudes, of his pre-existence. He is endowed with 
the richest spiritual gifts, and his weapons are spiritual 
also; he conquers by the power of goodness, Thus as 
the century closed the hopes of the Pharisees went 
back to the earlier teaching of the prophets, and looked 
for the Davidic king. Till that king appeared they 
counselled patience, and bade their followers prepare 
for this advent by the minute observance of the law. 
Unhappily the more spiritual aspects of the hope soon 


1 Ps, Sol, xvii. 35-6. ? Ps, Sol, xvii, 43-5. 





252 The Witness of Israel 


receded, and the worship of the letter produced the 
hard and unlovely characters of those who opposed our 
Lord. Yet in Zechariah and Elisabeth, in Simeon and 
Anna, we find the representatives of the pious kernel 
of the nation which never ceased to exist. Simeon’s 
enraptured words of gladness hail the child Jesus as ‘a 
light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of 
Thy people Israel.’ It is on this note that the pro- 
phecies of the old Dispensation close. From the simple 
faith of this saintly man all that is national and exclu- 
sive has been purged away. He sees the dawn of the 
new day, and can now depart in peace, confident that 
soon the whole world will be flooded with light. 

Here, then, our survey of the prophetic hopes of 
Israel must end. We have traced these hopes in many 
forms. Sometimes they have been strictly limited to 
the nation, and have sternly excluded all outsiders from 
any participation in them. Yet it can be most con- 
fidently claimed that in essence the religion of Israel 
is universal. We have seen Abraham rising above all 
his contemporaries to the faith in the one supreme 
God. We have marked how in the earliest narratives 
of Genesis the ancestor of the whole human race was 
made in the image of God, whilst the hope foreshadowed 
in Eden was the victory of all humanity over evil. 
The law that bound the tribes into a nation was first 
promulgated not in Palestine at all, but in Sinai. The 
Midrash on Exod, xix. 2 makes on this the striking 
comment— 


The Age of the Maccabees 253 


If the law had been given in the land of Israel perhaps 
Israel would have said to the peoples of the world, ‘You 
have no share in it.’ Therefore it was given in the wilder- 
ness, aN unappropriated law on unappropriated territory. 
He who will adopt it let him come and adopt it. 


The ethical universalism of the Decalogue confirms 
this claim. The very fact that Israel called itself ‘a 
chosen people’ showed the faith in a God capable of 
moral choice, not bound by any racial or geographical 
conditions whatsoever. All that tended to separate 
Israel from the rest of mankind, most of all the cere- 
monial law, was the shell behind which the treasure 
meant to enrich the world was guarded. Behind the 
forms we see in the history of this people a mighty _ 
spiritual movement. Other nations played their part 
and passed away, but still amongst this people the 
hope of a glorious future lived on. Have these hopes 
passed away into nothing? Is modern Judaism, which 
no longer seeks to impose its special national rites 
and institutions upon foreigners, but yet claims to be 
the truest teacher of faith in the one God, the true 
fulfilment of all this wondrous past? Or does not 
rather the New Testament supply the true answer ? 
To show that the Witness of Israel was a Witness of 
Jesus is the task that is attempted in the closing 
chapters of this book. 





BOOK III 
REALIZATION 





INTRODUCTION 


The new world of the New Testament—The relation to the Person 
of Jesus—Contrast with the Old Testament—Modern questions 
as to the relation between Jesus and Christ. 


S the Bible reader passes from the Old to the 
New Testament, he is conscious at once that 


he has entered a new world of thought and 
experience. Much that is strange to the Old Testa- 
ment, in particular the developed doctrine of heaven 
and hell, finds its partial explanation in the teaching 
of the post-Maccabean age. But that in itself does not 
explain the sense of novelty. What is really new is 
the constant expression of faith in one Person, and the 
unwavering attribution to Him of all that is glad and 
vital in experience. Old Testament writers were 
always looking forward. Their hopes were shaped in 
many forms, so various that it is hardly possible to 
collect them under any single category. The hopes 
of the New Testament writers also are very variously 
expressed. But they are bound together by the fact 
that at the centre of them all is this same Person. The 
history of all the past culminated in Him in His 
earthly life, and in His exalted life He is the goal of 

S 





258 The Witness of Israel 


all the history of the future. So much at least will 
be conceded by writers of every school. 

There are, however, two directions along which 
criticism is now moving. It is suggested in the first 
place that the New Testament writers have fatally 
misrepresented the. real meaning and significance of 
the life of Jesus, and that between Jesus of Nazareth 
and the Christ of modern Christianity there is a great 
gulf. And secondly, whatever is made of this first 
question, it is claimed that Christianity is a failing 
force, inadequate to cope with the complex problems 
of our modern civilization. 

In the pages that follow, three questions will there- 
fore be very briefly discussed. (1) The place claimed 
by Jesus Himself in the world’s history. (2) The 
apostolic interpretation of these claims. (3) The 
adequacy of these claims in face of our present needs.! 

1 Since this part of this book was sketched, Dr. Denney’s 
notable work, Jesus and the Gospel, has appeared. Dr.. Denney 
deals with the first two questions with far more scholarship and 
ability than the present writer possesses. Nevertheless, he has 
presented the argument from his own point of view, in the hope 


that it may be useful to some whom Dr, Denney’s book may not 
reach, 


CHAPTER I 


OUR LORD’S WITNESS TO HIMSELF 


Our Lord’s attitude to the past—Harnack and Bousset on this— 
Examination of the oldest sources of the Gospels—Jesus 
claimed that a new era dawned with His coming—Hence 
the urgency of His message—Harnack on this—Jesus claimed 
that He fulfilled the history of Israel—Proofs of this—Relation 
of our Lord to the characteristic forms of the Messianic hope: 
(a) The Davidic King—The triumphal entry—Discussion of 
Psalm ex. (b) The Son of Man—Relation to Daniel and 
Enoch. (c) The Servant of Jehovah—John the Baptist’s 
attitude to this—The three titles blend in our Lord’s use of 
them and in His application of them—Jesus as the goal of 
prophecy—The Lord’s Supper—His place in universal history. 


consciousness of His own Person and work, we 

begin from His attitude to the history of Israel, 
and to the revelation of God contained init. To Him 
that long and chequered past was illumined by the 
light of God. Prophets, psalmists, lawgivers, had all 
received true messages, and declared them to unbeliey- 
ing generations. In their teaching He found spiritual 
support and weapons against temptation. To them He 
directed His opponents, and bade them find there the 
answers to their own objections. He saw the increasing 


¢ attempting reverently to inquire into our Lord’s 





260 The Witness of Israel 


purpose of God running through the centuries, and 
marvelled at the stubbornness and blindness of those 
who could not discern it. And yet He claimed that 
this purpose culminated in Himself ! 

So much is granted by Harnack— 

What a moment it must have been for Him when He 
recognized that He was the one of whom the prophets had 
spoken ; when He saw the whole history of His nation from 
Abraham to Moses downwards in the light of His own 
mission; when He could no longer avoid the conviction 
that He was the promised Messiah.’ 

In his work on‘ Jesus,’ in the Volksbiicher, Bousset 
also finds himself compelled to believe that from the 
baptism onwards, this consciousness of Messiahship 
was present. Bousset, however, argues that this con- 
ception was a burden rather than a help to our Lord. 
It was so weighted with the false nationalistic expecta- 
tions that He would willingly have disowned it if 
He could. Yet, on the other hand, since He had to 
proclaim the coming kingdom of God, and since, 
according to the popular conception, this was not 
thinkable without the Messiah, He was obliged to take 
this position. Bousset goes on to speak of our Lord’s 
consciousness that He was unique, the fulfiller with 
none to come after Him, and then concludes: ‘ When 
Jesus wished to bring this consciousness to expression 
. . . the thought of the Messiah presented itself to 
Him as the only possibility in His environment.’ ? 


! What is Christianity ? E.T. p. 140. 
? See the whole section on Das Geheimnis der Person, pp. 81-96. 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 261 


The difficulty of such a position is in its entire 
inadequacy to account for the Jesus of whom Bousset 
speaks so reverently. Bousset says in words one is 
glad to quote— 

He valued the authority of the past, but placed Himself 
above it. He would be more than kings and prophets, than 
David, Solomon, and the Temple. He opposed Himself to 
the tradition of the Old Testament, ‘ But I say unto you,’ 
and even Moses himself was not to Him an authority to 
whom He submitted unconditionally.* 


But we must remember that Jesus set Himself above 
the past just because He claimed to fulfil it, The 
past was a unity to Him because it was full of the 
constant effort of God to reveal Himself to men. The 
Messianic hope was, as we have seen, the uniting bond 
that linked together all the scattered anticipations of 
many centuries. Must not Jesus have believed that 
that hope was God-inspired? We cannot see that 
there is more than one answer to that question. But 
if so, to suggest that Jesus would have gladly done His 
work without using this conception at all becomes 
impossible. If we are unable to see in the history of 
Israel the special revelation of God, and the continuous 
preparation for a final manifestation, then we must try 
to free the teaching and consciousness of Jesus from 
all national forms and limitations. Bousset seeks to 
do this, But, for all its eloquence and attractiveness, 
his presentation of Jesus seems to us to be unsatisfying 
1 Ibid. p. 97, 


262 The Witness of Israel 


and unreal. In his reverence for the One whom he is 
not ashamed to call Master, he gives up much of what 
that Master Himself most deeply reverenced. We 
must either do more than this or less, 

Let us proceed to draw out a little more fully the — 
proof that our Lord claimed that the new era had 
dawned with His coming. We take a passage belong- 
ing to the matter common to the Gospels of Matthew 
and Luke, coming from the source which the critics 
call Q, believed by Sir William Ramsay to have been 
written while Christ was still living, registering the 
impression made on eye-witnesses by the words and 
acts of Christ.1_ Even if this surprisingly early date 
fails to find acceptance, Harnack’s investigations seem 
to prove that Mark was written in the fifties, and Q 
earlier still. The passage is found in Matthew xiii. 
16-17; Luke x. 23-4. As Matthew gives it, it 
reads— 





But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears 
for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many 
prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which 
ye see and saw them not, and to hear the things which ye 
hear but heard them not. 


The meaning is clear. Our Lord claims that in 
Himself the’ supreme manifestation towards which all 
the saints of old had looked with wistful eyes had at 
last been made. Precisely the same conclusion comes 
from the passage from the same primitive source about 

1 Luke the Physician. 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 263 


John the Baptist, Matt. xi. 11, Luke vii. 28. Jesus 
recognized to the full the titanic greatness of His fore- 
runner, and saw him towering above all other men, 
and yet He says, ‘he that is but little in the kingdom 
of God is greater than he.’ John lived in the old era; 
Jesus claimed that He had brought in a new one, 

It is from this standpoint that we are to understand 
the urgency of the proclamation of our Lord’s message. 
The authenticity of the sending forth of the twelve 
disciples with commission to heal and to teach is 
guaranteed by all the synoptists. They went forth 
charged with the thought that the acceptance or rejec- 
tion of their proclamation was a matter of life or death 
to their hearers. Similarly when Jesus pronounced 
His woes on Bethsaida and Chorazin and Capernaum, 
He spoke in the solemn light of the judgement day, 
Others before them had listened to prophets and 
teachers, but none to any like Himself. Brought face 
to face with Him men must make the final and ever- 
lasting choice: from this there is no escape. Harnack 
deals with such passages by suggesting that every true 
prophet who has become conscious of God is filled with 
terror and agony as he recognizes that all mankind is 
sunk in error and indifference. 


The time is running out, it is the last moment—this 
is the cry in which, then, in all nations and at all times, 
any energetic call to conversion has been voiced whenever 
a fresh prophet has been granted them." 


1 What is Christianity ? p. 42. 





264 The Witness of Israel 


But surely no other prophet ever claimed that his 
coming had brought the last age with it. Others have 
called men back to the forgotten virtues of the past, or 
cleared the choked-up fountains of energy and let the 
living waters flow. They have seen the truth with 
such startling clearness that they have been amazed 
and horrified at the blindness of their contemporaries. 
We see these men like beacon-lights along the dark 
path of history. But we see none who dared to judge 
his generation by its attitude to himself, who claimed 
that all history had been a preparation for his coming, 
who told men that their highest blessedness was in 
seeing and hearing him. If John was ‘more than a 
prophet,’ what did Jesus claim to be ? 

We pass on to a further consideration. Jesus 
declared that His coming brought in a new era, In 
what relation, then, did it stand to the past history of 
Israel? The answer must assuredly be given that He 
claimed to be the fulfilment of all the divinely inspired 
hopes which that history contained. A most instruc- 
tive illustration of this is found in the passage from 
the primitive source given as a whole in Matt. xxiii, 
31-9, and in two parts in Luke xi. 49-51, xiii. 31-5, 
In His moving lament over Jerusalem Jesus identifies 
Himself with that longsuffering love of God which so 
often in the sinful past would have gathered and 
sheltered the erring nation. He looks back over the 
long line of martyred messengers. He sees this line 
ending in Himself, and sees in the rejection of Himself 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 265 


the culmination of Israel’s guilt. The same thought 
rules in the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, which 
is found in all the synoptists. There our Lord clearly 
distinguishes Himself from all former messengers in 
such a way that none of His hearers could possibly 
misunderstand Him. Many prophets and righteous 
men in the past had found nothing but wild grapes in 
the vineyard of Israel, and had received as their wages 
shame and outrage. But now God had sent at last one 
greater than them all, His own Son. The fate of the 
nation depends on its treatment of this Son. The last 
hour has struck, the final choice must be made. 
Should the nation reject this last appeal it must be 
shattered into dust. Again we note the absolute 
uniqueness of Christ’s personal claim. With His 
coming a new page of history was opened, for which 
all the past had prepared.? 

We pass now to consider our Lord’s references to 
the various forms in which the hope of Israel had 
expressed itself. Three of these forms call for notice, 
the Davidie king, the Son of Man, and the Servant of 
Jehovah. 

(a) With regard to the first the story of the 
triumphal entry into Jerusalem is most instructive. 


1 For an interesting defence of the authenticity of this parable, 
which has been denied by some, see an article by Prof, F, C. Burkitt 
in the Transactions of the International Congress of the History of 
Religions (1908), vol. ii, pp. 321 fi. Mr. Burkitt holds that the 
absence of any reference to the Resurrection, as well as the general 
congruence of thought with Christ’s teaching, is a decisive proof 
that the parable was spoken by Him, 





266 The Witness of Israel 


As our Lord rode into the city, rejoicing bands of 
pilgrims went before Him proclaiming ‘Blessed is 
the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father — 
David.’ The quotation that Matthew gives from 
Zechariah as to the coming of the king riding upon an 
ass must have been. present in the minds of many who 
watched that scene, and doubtless in the mind of our 
Lord Himself. His acceptance of the homage clearly 
shows that He was deliberately fulfilling the prophecy. 
Yet as later He sat teaching He definitely rejected 
the popular interpretation of the hope for this Davidic 
king. Quoting the 110th Psalm, whose Messianic 
application was admitted by all, He asked how the 
Messiah could be at once the son and lord of David. 
The answer suggested by Him is that the terms in 
which the Messiah is described are far too impressive 
to be applied to any mere lineal descendant of David. 
The coming Deliverer has a far higher task than that of 
re-establishing a dynasty. Hence our Lord rejects 
altogether the common expectation, and claims to be 
King of a kingdom as far superior to any earthly 
kingdom as the Messiah of the Psalm was to any 
merely political king. On the earthly side He joins 
Himself to what was lowly and peaceable in the 
promised king, making no reference to the splendid 
list of passages that hailed the king as rich and glorious 
and mighty in battle. But on the Godward side His 
claims are so great that our thought dares not follow 


Him. 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 267 


It should be observed that our Lord’s own treatment 
of these hopes must be decisive for the Christian 
interpretation of them. Even as He stripped away all 
that was external and temporary, fulfilling them in 
their essence only, in the spirit and not in the letter, so 
must we. At the same time we must not forget that 
in using this Psalm of Himself He claimed the spiritual 
functions of the Priest-King, a thought grandly worked 
out in the Epistle to the Hebrews. 

(5) We turn now to the second form of these hopes 
as reflected in our Lord’s use of the title Son of Man. 

It is altogether impossible, in these few pages, even 
to outline the discussions as to the meaning of this 
name. They are enough to fill a library. Harnack 
remarks: ‘The very expression “Son of Man”—that 
Jesus used it is beyond question—seems to me to be 
intelligible only in a Messianic sense”! Accepting 
this conclusion, we must proceed to ask whence such 
a designation came. We have already commented on 
the meaning of the phrase in Daniel, and in the Simili- 
tudes of Enoch. In Daniel it prefigures the human 
character of the coming kingdom of the saints as 
opposed to the brutal violence of the wicked and god- 
less rulers of the world. In Enoch it appears as the 
title of a superhuman, pre-existent being, of whom it 
is said— 

He sat himself upon the throne of his glory, and the 
sum of judgement was committed unto him, the Son of 

1 What ts Christianity ? p. 130. 





268 The Witness of Israel 


Man, and he caused the sinners and them that have led the 
world astray to disappear from the face of the earth and 
to be destroyed.? 


That in both these books the reference is to the Mes- 
sianic kingdom is beyond question. If we ask what 
are the thoughts that are expressed in Daniel and in 
Enoch, we find that they are two—humanity and sove- 
reignty. Both of these, indeed, are present in Daniel, 
but in Enoch the application is made to a distinct 
person. Is it too much to say that our Lord, reject- 
ing the titles that had been degraded by mere worldly 
and political associations, chose for Himself one that 
emphasized His common humanity, His lowliness and 
gentleness, and yet was capable of expressing the im- 
measurable greatness of His claims? He was the Son 
of Man who came eating and drinking, sharing the 
simple needs and pleasures of daily life, one with the 
humble and the poor. Yet at the same time He was 
the Son of Man who would sit on the throne of His 
glory, who even now looks far away beyond this world, 
and sees the time when He and all others must appear 
before God, and all men’s eternal destiny be deter- 
mined by His acknowledgement or denial. 

If we follow this clue we can interpret all the 
occurrences of ‘the Son of Man’ in the Gospels. In 
some the human side is emphasized, but the conscious- 
ness of royalty is never absent. When He says ‘the 
Son of Man hath not where to lay His head,’ the 

1 Enoch lxix, 27-8, 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 269 


thought shines through that ‘the pathos of His situa- 
tion is not that of a poor man, but that of a disin- 
herited King.’! We need not suppose that from the 
first His enemies understood that by this designation 
He was making Messianic claims. We may grant 
that until Peter’s great confession He had never made 
such claims openly. But we have no doubt that, in 
His own consciousness, the full meaning was implicit 
from the very opening of His ministry, Again we are 
led into regions where thought dares not follow. Har- 
nack, indeed, in glowing words, attempts to show that 
our Lord’s consciousness of the great antithesis between 
the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world 
produced His vision of the future. 


With dramatic intensity battle and victory stand like 
a picture before His soul, drawn in those large firm lines 
in which the prophets had seen them. At the close of 
the drama He sees Himself seated at the right hand of the 
Father, and His twelve disciples on thrones judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel; so objective was this picture to 
Him, so completely in harmony with the ideas of His time? 


But this does not explain the calm deliberation with 
which He chose the title ‘Son of Man,’ nor the trans- 
cendent fullness of meaning which He put intoit. As 
Dr. Denney has said— 

Nothing marks off His consciousness of Himself more 
distinctly from every form of prophetic consciousness than 


1 Denney, Jesus and the Gospel, p. 298. 
2 What is Christianity ? p. 53, 





270 The Witness of Israel 


this, that whereas the prophets looked forward to the 
coming of another, what Jesus saw as the final and glorious 
consummation of God’s purposes was His own coming 
again.? 


If that is true, and surely it is, what was most cha- 
racteristic of our Lord’s scheme of the future was not 
what was common to Him and His contemporaries, but 
what was unique in His case, the central significance 
given to His own person. Thus we come again to the 
conclusion, The Witness of Israel was to the coming 
ofa Person. Jesus claimed to be that Person, and by 
His use of ‘Son of Man’ indefinitely deepened the 
meaning of all earlier hopes.” 

(c) In the third place, we come to the sayings in 
which our Lord takes to Himself the place of the suf- 
fering Servant of Jehovah, blending that conception 
many times with the title ‘Son of Man.’ 

In studying these sayings it is well to begin by 
considering the work of John the Baptist, and the tes- 
timony that he bore. All the synoptists introduce their 
account of John by quoting from Isa, xl. the great words 
about the herald voice in the wilderness proclaiming the 
coming of the Lord. In the fourth Gospel the same 

1 Op. cit. p. 297. 

2 Bousset does not deny that Jesus used this title, though he 
limits the number of instances. As he will not admit that Jesus 
thought of Himself as the Judge he has to give up the passages 
which suggest this. He has to support two contradictory pro- 
positions; (1) That Jesus only used the title in moments of great 


exaltation ; (2) that He used it without any apprehension of the 
highest claims it involyed, See Jesus, pp, 94-5, 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 271 


words are said to have been quoted by John himself, in 
answer to the deputation from the priests and Levites.? 
When we examine the reported sayings of John, it is 
notable how many echoes there are from the closing 
part of the Book of Isaiah. ‘The figure of the thresh- 
ing-floor and the fan is in chapter xl. verses 15-16; 
the appeal to Abraham as father is in chapter li. verse 
2; the promise of the bridegroom is in chapter 1xii; 
the warnings against exaction and violence can be 
paralleled from chapter lviii.; the anointing with the 
Spirit is in both chapters xlii. and lxi. Hence we may 
say that whilst John shared in the expectation of his 
day that the Messianic age would be one of judgement, 
it was largely from these chapters of Isaiah that he 
filled in the outlines. But if so, we are compelled to 
ask what impression the passages about the suffering 
Servant made upon him. Did he never ponder them 
and ask their meaning also? We believe that the 
words attributed to him in the fourth Gospel, ‘ Behold 
the Lamb of God that beareth away the sin of the 
world, supply the answer. As he looked on Jesus, the 
deep words of Isa. lili. suddenly sprang into new mean- 
ing for him, and he saw before him the one on whom 
the Lord was to lay the iniquities of us all. 

Tt is well known that it is strongly denied that 
John could have uttered these words at all. Schmiedel, 
for instance, affirms that they make John’s later ques- 
tion as to whether Jesus was the Messiah impossible, 

1 John i, 23, 


ee 


272 The Witness of Israel : 
and many other scholars agree with him.!| We main- 
tain, on the contrary, that they really give the clue to 
the origin in John’s own mind of his challenge, ‘ Art 
Thou He who should come, or look we for another 2’ 
When John asked that question his career had been 
cut short by his unrighteous arrest. The reward of 
his fearless denunciations of wrong had been imprison- 
ment. As he lay in prison news was brought to him 
of the popularity of Jesus, then at its height. Could 
this Teacher, high in the favour of the crowds that 
followed Him, exercising a peaceful and successful 
ministry, really be that Servant who was to be despised 
and rejected of men? One may readily suppose that 
at such a time as this John would be likely to dwell 
on these aspects of the Servant’s work more than on 
the promises of triumph and of glory. If this be so, we 
can understand the perfect appropriateness of the reply 
of Jesus. He turns John’s thought to another passage 
in the same chapters so familiar to them both, and 
bids him note that in the work of healing and of 
teaching He is fulfilling one part of the Servant’s 
mission. 

In the light of this examination Schmiedel’s further 
remark that in the fourth Gospel the Baptist is 
nothing more than a subsidiary figure introduced to make 
known the majesty of Jesus—a figure endowed with super- 


natural knowledge indeed, but always monotonously the 
same and historically quite colourless,’ 


1 EK. Bi, 2519, ? Tbid. 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 273 


misses the mark altogether. As in so many other 
instances, the fourth Gospel here sheds a welcome and 
unexpected light on what would be dark without it, 
and gives us a wonderful glimpse of the Baptist’s inner 
consciousness, 

This discussion has been introduced to show that 
from the opening of His ministry our Lord connected 
His work with that of the Servant of Jehovah, At 
first He laid stress on the consoling and healing aspects 
of this work. But presently He began to direct the 
attention of His disciples to the inevitable suffering 
and death that lay before Him. It is most notable 
how in these sayings He unites the title, ‘Son of Man,’ 
with this tragic expectation. It is the Son of Man 
who is to be delivered into the hand of sinners, and to 
give His life a ransom for many, When at the last 
the words of Isa. liii., ‘And He was numbered with 
the transgressors,’ are in His mind, or His thoughts 
turn to the smiting of the shepherd in Zech. xiii, it 
is still the Son of Man who ‘ goeth forth, even as it is 
written of Him.’1 As in the great scene of judgement 
in Matt. xxv. 31-46, the Son of Man, who comes in 
His glory, is spoken of a few lines later as the King, 
so that the thought of the King and the Son of Man 
blend, so the Son of Man and the Servant of Jehovah 
unite in the one Person. This is of great significance, 
Jesus takes each of the great forms under which the 
hopes for the future had been expressed, forms so 

} Matt, xxyi, 24, 





274 The Witness of Israel 


various that, apart from Him, no harmony can be 
deduced from them, and with perfect naturalness 
applies them all to Himself. In so doing, He gave 
His seal to the claim that all the history of the past 
had worked towards one end. In that broad and 
comprehensive sense He claimed to be the is of 
prophecy. 

We have as yet said nothing of the infinite signifi- 
cance of the Last Supper. In that solemn hour all 
the thoughts that have been described seem to find 
their focus. The old covenant between God and His 
people, sealed by blood, is to be replaced by another, 
of which His own blood is the abiding seal. He gives 
Himself to be the food of the souls of His followers. 
He looks forward to the day when they with Him will 
rejoice together in the immediate presence of God. As 
He shows us here His place in universal history, His 
links with the past, with all its imperfect yearnings 
and desires, His sufficiency for all the future, till time 
shall be no more, our questionings are silenced, our 
doubts subdued, as we bow before Him and exclaim, 
‘My Lord, and my God!’ 

We have looked at the past, with its rainbows of 
hope spanning the stormy sky, and with wistful eyes 
have waited while we questioned— 


Whose foot shall I see emerge, 
Whose from the straining topmost dark, 
On to the keystone of that arc? 


1 On this, vide infra, pp. 289-90. 


Our Lord’s Witness to Himself 275 


And we have had the answer— 


He was there, 
He Himself with His human air. 


‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, 
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth,’ 





CHAPTER II 
THE APOSTOLIC WITNESS 


The first Christian preachers of the Old Testament: (1) The 


early speeches of Peter—Schmiedel’s view of these—Their 
Christology—1 Peter. (2) The teaching of St. Paul—His 
knowledge of the life of Jesus—The authority to him of the 
words of Jesus—His view of the history of Israel identical 
with that of Jesus—No gap for him between past and future— 
St. Paul and the Messianic hopes—The Davidie King—The 
Son of Man—This term absent, but ideas, both human and 
eschatological, present—The Servant of Jehovah—Paul’s 
claim to be the true expositor of Jesus—His teaching on the ~ 
Lord’s Supper. (3) The Epistle to the Hebrews—Its present 
value—View of the history of Israel—Treatment of the Mes- 
sianic hopes—Blending of the human and divine in Jesus— 
Attitude to the law. (4) The Johannine writings—The 
Gospel and Epistles—Attitude to the Old Testament—Firm 
grasp of history—Schmiedel on the humanity of Jesus in this 
Gospel—Answers from Epistle and Gospel—Place of the three 
Messianic conceptions—Meaning of judgement in Johannine 
writings and the rest of the New Testament—The Apocalypse 
—Jesus fulfils all the prophecies—Yet is worshipped with 
God—Influence of Jesus on His contemporaries, men of 
ardently monotheistic faith. 


N his exquisite story of the walk to Emmaus, Luke 
declares that on the way the risen Lord ex- 
pounded from Moses, and from all the prophets, 


the things concerning Himself! To the believer in 


1 Luke xxiv. 27, 


The Apostolic Witness 277 


the Resurrection this inimitable narrative seems to bear 
the marks of self-evidencing truth. But, even if this 
be doubted, the words aptly describe the use made by 
the first Christian preachers of the Old Testament. 
To them it was certain that the central fact of all these 
ancient Scriptures was the presence of a great hope 
and of a great promise, and that both had been realized 
in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. The 
present chapter presents very briefly some part of the 
proof of such an assertion. 

1. We begin with Luke’s account of the early 
speeches of Peter, as recorded in the Acts of the 
Apostles, This is of great evidential value. Schmiedel 
may be taken again as the exponent of extreme nega- 
tive criticism. Yet he accepts the Christology of these 
speeches of Peter as historically important in the 
highest degree. He goes on to argue that in them 
Jesus is presented as a man, servant of God, but not 
son, not constituted Lord and Messiah before His 
resurrection, and so on.! He claims that this is in 
exact agreement with the impression left by the most 
genuine passages of the first three Gospels, and that no 
such representation is to be found elsewhere in the 
whole New Testament. Hence he concludes that it 
must have come from a primitive source. 

But quite apart from the discussion of the last 
chapter, which attempted to show the impossibility of 
resting in a purely humanitarian conception of Jesus, 

1 E, Bi, col, 48, 





278 The Witness of Israel 


this view slurs over all that is most significant in the 
speeches in question. Peter aims at proving that all the — 
Old Testament is full of anticipation of the coming of 
Jesus. Jesus—the very same Jesus who was crucified— 
was the long-expected King of David’s line (ii. 29, &c.); 
He was the Servant delivered up and denied, but raised 
again (ili, 13-15); His suffering and death were fore- 
shown by the prophets (iii. 18, &c.) ; Heis the appointed 
Judge of quick and dead (x. 42). Thus the three great 
conceptions which we have studied in the words of 
Jesus Himself, King, Servant, Judge, all reappear here. 
Moreover, the thought of the new era is most strikingly 
expressed both in the quotation from Joel (ii. 17-21) 
and in the statement that ‘all the prophets from 
Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have 
spoken, they also told of these days’ (iii. 24). Hence 
the same note of urgency and of solemn warning to 
those who reject this message (iii. 23). When one 
takes a step back and contemplates these statements 
as a whole their effect is overwhelming. Who is this 
Person who stands in the centre of the world’s history, 
whose coming separates past from present? Under 
what category can He be classed? Peter begins, it is 
true, with a statement of the well-known facts of the 
life of Jesus. But the comment of Erasmus is surely 
the true one: ‘He praises Christ nobly before the rough 
multitude, yet only calls Him a man, that gradually 
from the facts they may recognize His divinity, 
Before his first speech is over Peter has attributed to 


The Apostolic Witness 279 


Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit, and quoted in illus- 
tration of this words used by Joel of Jehovah Himself; 
and has proclaimed baptism in His name for the 
remission of sins. It is to be particularly observed 
that there is for Peter no gap between the historic 
Jesus and the glorified Christ. To him history from 
Abraham onwards is a unity, through which the purpose 
of God was being worked out. For the perfection of 
this purpose the earthly life was as essential as the 
risen glory. To deny this seems to make his appeal 
to the past altogether meaningless, 

When Schmiedel says again that in Peter’s speeches 
the death of Jesus ‘was not a divine arrangement 
for the salvation of men, but a calamity the guilt of 
which rested on the Jews, even if it was foreordained 
of God,’+ he suggests, certainly incorrectly, that the two 
thoughts are incompatible. There is no need to argue 
that the crucifixion was not a crime, because there God 
was reconciling the world unto Himself. The Christian 
consciousness still owns the contrary to be true as it 
sings— 

The blood that was shed, for me let it plead 

And declare Thou hast died in Thy murderer’s stead. 


Moreover, the great thoughts of Isa. liii., which 
the references to the Servant assure us were in Peter’s 
mind, connect indissolubly the suffering with the sin- 
bearing, and then with the redemption, Hence the 


1 . Bi, col, 48, 





280 The Witness of Israel 


Christology of Peter’s speeches appears to be surprisingly 
full and complete. That he could have expressed it 
within a few weeks of the death of Jesus would be an 
insoluble mystery if it had not been in essential harmony 
with the claims of his Master. His maturer thoughts 
as set forth in his first epistle are only the development 
of what was present from the first. With reference to 
the relation of his teaching in the epistle to the Old 
Testament we may quote the weighty words of Dr. 
Hort— 


Their (the apostles’) faith was not a new religion, but 
a new stage in the old religion of Israel, and it derived a 
large part of its claims to acceptance from this its appeal 
to the past in conjunction with the present. The dream 
of a Christianity without Judaism soon arose, and could 
not but arise: but, though it could make appeal to a 
genuine zeal for the purity of the gospel, it was, in fact, 
an abnegation of apostolic Christianity. When robbed of 
His Messiahship, our Lord became an isolated portent, and 
the true meaning of faith in Him was lost. This was one 
of the most fundamental subjects of controversy in the 
second century, and with good reason the watchword of the 
champions of the apostolic teaching was the harmony of 
prophets with apostles. 


2. As we turn to consider the relation of St. Paul 
to Christ we enter a region where many battles have 
been fought, and where the conflict is still fiercely 
raging. In spite of a few dissentient voices it may be 
asserted that the authenticity of at least the central 


1 Hort, Commentary on 1 Peter, p. 57. 


The Apostolic Witness 281 


group of Paul’s epistles has been conclusively vindicated, 
In the same series of Volksbiicher in which Bousset 
writes, Dr. Vischer admits six epistles as genuine, 
1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, 
and Philippians. There is much in modern criticism 
to show that these concessions will have to go very 
much further.! 

It must, however, be recognized that the winning of 
this victory by the defenders of orthodox Christianity, 
despite its great importance, has only proved a pre- 
liminary to the ultimate conflict. The question in 
dispute is now sharply defined as ‘Was Jesus or Paul 
the founder of Christianity ?’ ? 

The answers to this question may be considered 
under two heads: (1) What did Paul know about 
Jesus? (2) How far did he advance upon His teach- 
ing? As to the first of these, it becomes plainer every 
year that Paul was familiar with many of the words of 
Jesus. The statement of a recent article in the Hibbert 
Journal that, apart from the reference to the Lord’s 
Supper, Paul makes no appeal to the teaching of 
Jesus, is amazing from a writer who professes to set 
forth the results of modern criticism? In the work 
of Dr. Knowling just referred to the views of many 
scholars of all shades of critical opinion are given, 

1 See e.g. Dr. Knowling’s survey of the question in his The 
Testimony of St. Paul to Christ. 
2 Cf, an article with this title by Prof. McGiffert in the American 


Journal of Theology, January, 1909. 
3 Article, ‘Jesus or Christ,’ January, 1909, 


? 
282 The Witness of Israel : 


Referring to a writer of a very advanced position Dr. 
Knowling says— 

If we turn to our Lord’s teaching, we find that, accord- 
ing to Holtzmann, St. Paul must have had considerable 
acquaintance with it. He can refer e.g. to our Lord’s 
teaching as to marriage, to His ordinance for the main- 
tenance of the Church, to His appeal to love as the fulfilling 
of the law; he knows of our Lord’s great discourses as to 
His coming to judgement, and he borrows some of his 
phraseology from it; he speaks e.g. in his earliest epistle 
of that coming as of the coming of a thief in the night. 
We are reminded, too, of the way in which the language 
so frequent in the epistles as to the building up, the 
edifying of the Christian community, as to the authority 
which the Lord gave for building up, and not for casting 
down, may have passed to St. Paul from our Lord’s use of 
the same metaphor when He spoke of building His Church.’ 


From this list of references we select one, the 
teaching as to marriage. In 1 Cor. Paul is reply- 
ing to a series of questions as to points of morality 
arising from the complex social conditions of the great 
city of Corinth. Presently he comes to a question on 
which Jesus Himself had pronounced. At once his 
tone changes. ‘Not I, he says, ‘but the Lord’? has 
given commandment in this case. The inference is 
obvious. Paul takes it for granted that the Corinthians 
were acquainted with the words of Christ, and that 
these words have an absolute authority against which 
there is no appeal. It is neither for him nor them to 
argue about that. Such an instance only eonfirms 

1 Op. cit. p. 203. 2 1 Cor, vii, 10, 


The Apostolic Witness 283 


one’s expectations, It was surely impossible for so 
alert a mind as Paul’s to have remained ignorant about 
the life and words of Jesus. Some teaching about 
these must have been the first lessons that Christian 
catechumens would receive. But this passing reference 
in 1 Cor., arising quite incidentally, proves very 
strikingly the truth of such suppositions.! 

Concluding, then, that Paul knew and reverenced 
as of supreme authority the words of Jesus, we have 
yet to ask whether his teaching as to the work and 
Person of his Master does really go far beyond the 
limits of Christ Himself. It is obvious that all that 
can be done here is to give a few indications as to the 
way in which such a question must be answered. 

We begin by remarking that Paul’s attitude to the 
meaning of the history of Israel is essentially one with 
that of Christ. The speech at Pisidian Antioch? has 
been denied to him by many critics. Yet, as Sir W. M. 
Ramsay has pointed out, the coincidences of thought in 
that speech and the Epistle to the Galatians ‘are so 
striking as to make each the best commentary on the 
other.’ Here we find the same confident assurance 
that in Jesus the promise made to the fathers had been 
fulfilled, while the note on which the address closes— 
the conviction that justification is not to be found in 
the law of Moses—is essentially true to Paul’s own 


1 For Paul’s reference to the Lord’s Supper, vide infra, p. 289, 
2 Acts xiii. 16-40. 
3 Cf, also Knowling, in loco, Exp. Greek Test. 





284 The Witness of Israel 


experience, But quite apart from this there is the 
unquestionable evidence of the great epistles. The 
gospel Paul preached had, he said, been ‘ promised 
afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures’ ;1 the 
righteousness he proclaimed was ‘ witnessed by the law 
and the prophets’;? the death and resurrection of 
Jesus were both ‘according to the Scriptures.’ § 

It is impossible to cut Paul’s teaching away from its 
roots in the past history of his nation. We see this 
still more clearly in the two great passages which 
expound his philosophy of history. In the Galatian 
epistle Paul shows that there were three stages in the 
history of revelation: (1) the promise, (2) the law, 
(3) the fulfilment of the promise in Jesus. The third 
stage began, it must be observed, with the birth of — 
Jesus. ‘When the fullness of the time came, God 
sent forth His Son, born of a woman.’* In the grand 
argument of Rom. ix.xi, Paul shows the indis- 
pensable place of Israel in God’s redeeming purpose, 
There, again, all that glorious past on which he dwells 
so lovingly—‘ the adoption, and the glory, and the 
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple 
service, and the promises’—culminated in the human 
birth of Jesus, the crown of that people ‘of whom, as 
concerning the flesh, is the Christ,’®> We cannot here 
pursue the apostle’s teaching as to the future destiny 


1 Rom. i. 2. 2 Rom. iii. 21, 
3 1 Cor. xv. 3-4, 4 Gal. iv, 4, 
5 Rom. ix, 4-8, 


The Apostolic Witness 285 


of the human race, but it has been truly said that 
‘the human mind has conceived nothing more splendid 
and yet sober, more humbling and exalting, than the 
view of man’s history and destiny thus sketched 
out,’} 

But what we are here concerned to argue is this: 
To Paul history is a closely knit whole. The earthly 
life of Jesus cannot be torn away from or left out of 
his scheme without destroying its harmony, The man 
who could make these magnificent generalizations, and 
sweep both past, present, and future with his glance, 
was not so inept as to ignore this fact. He is rather 
absolutely at one with his Master in his assurance that 
with the earthly life of Jesus the new era came. To 
the unbelieving world the Resurrection was God’s un- 
answerable proof that the One whom it had rejected 
and cast out was His chosen Son, But this was only 
the declaration of a pre-existent fact which the world 
had been too blind to see. - 

Let us now proceed to consider the attitude of Paul 
towards the three forms of the Messianic expectation 
already studied in the words of our Lord and of Peter. 
We note at once that he is fully aware of the claims of 
Jesus to Davidic descent. He is ‘of the seed of David 
according to the flesh,’ and is identified with ‘ the root 
of Jesse.’? Paul also quotes the famous 110th Psalm, 
and applies it to Christ: ‘He must reign, till He hath 


1 Findlay, Galatians, p. 198. 
2 Rom, i. 3; xy, 12 (cf. 2 Tim, ii. 8), 





286 The Witness of Israel 


put all His enemies under His feet.’4 But he lays — 
no more stress upon the literal meaning than did Jesus 
Himself, passing away at once to show the higher 
spiritual Sonship, in this exactly following his Master. 

The second title, ‘Son of Man,’ is, as is well 
known, nowhere found in Paul’s writings. That may 
well be because such a title would not be understood 
by Greeks, to whom it had none of the associations of 
heavenly glory which it possessed for Jews, and might 
appear to them to unduly emphasize the humanity. 
But the ideas which the name connotes are present 
everywhere. On the human side, Paul speaks of ‘ the 
meckness and gentleness of Christ’ ;? reminds his readers 
that in bearing affliction they become ‘ imitators of the 
Lord’;% and prays that their hearts may be directed 
‘into the patience of Christ.’ Yet he declares the 
coming of Jesus with the voice of the archangel and 
with the trump of God.5 This combination of the One 
who ‘ pleased not Himself’ ® with the One before whose 
judgement seat we must all be made manifest,’ leads 
us back to the unique Person of the Gospels. The 
witness of St. Paul agrees with His witness of 
Himself. 

But we may go further. In Dr. H. A. A, Kennedy’s 
careful study of Sé. Paul’s Conceptions of the Last 
Things, the author comments on Paul’s use of the 


1 1 Cor, xv. 25, 2 2 Cor. x. 1, 
3 1 Thess. i, 6. 4 2 Thess, iii. 5, 
5 1 Thess, iv. 16, 6 Rom. xv. 3 


7 2 Cor. v. 10. 


The Apostolic Witness 287 


phrases, ‘the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ ‘ the day of 
Christ Jesus,’ ‘the day of Christ.’ He continues— 


These designations at once reveal the intimate con- 
nexion of the apostle’s idea of judgement with the prophetic 
conception of the ‘Day of the Lord.’ Only, on the one 
hand, the horizon has immensely widened. On the other, 
the somewhat vague pictures of God’s judgement which 
the prophets clothe in various forms, have given place to 
the definite intervention of the exalted Lord, Jesus Christ, 
armed with complete authority. Here it is plain that St. 
Paul has taken his stand on the teaching of Jesus Himself. 
For there can be no doubt whatever that one of the lofty 
claims which our Lord put forward with emphasis and 
frequency, was His position as judge of the final destinies 
of mankind. It will suffice to refer to such familiar 
passages as Matt. vii. 22-3; xii. 41 f.; xxv. 31 f. This was 
the point, we may say, at which the foundations of a 
distinctly Christian eschatology were laid. There was 
nothing to correspond to it in Judaism. There could not 
be, for the Jews had never conceived of a Messiah who 
should pass through a career of earthly activity, a career 
checked by death, and then return as the medium of God’s 
final purpose for the universe.’ 


It is well to pause to consider the significance of 
these words. Jesus took the old Messianic conceptions 
and filled them with a meaning never found elsewhere, 
It seems impossible for any criticism ever to disprove 
that assertion, Yet in Paul we find the very same 
interpretation of these ancient hopes. Whence does 
this similarity come? Paul affirms that His teaching 


1 Op. cit, pp. 193-4, 


288 The Witness of Israel 


sprang from Jesus, before whom he always bows in 
lowliest homage. We believe unprejudiced examina- 
tion will show more and more that no other explanation 
is possible, 

Leaving untouched, for want of space, a multitude 
of passages in which the same identity of thought 
appears, in particular those in which Christ is set forth 
as the second Adam, a few words will suffice on the 
last of the three Messianic conceptions, the suffering 
Servant, Paul’s words, ‘who was delivered up for our 
trespasses, and was raised for our justification,’ 1 lead 
us right back to Isa. lili, But his whole doctrine of 
the connexion between the suffering and the shame 
and the cross and the redemption that was thus 
obtained, is evidence which no one denies, and need 
not be drawn out at length. 

Summing up this discussion, we may say that Paul’s 
teaching rests on an intimate knowledge of the words 
of Jesus, whose authority he holds as unchallengeably 
supreme; that his view of the meaning of the Old 
Testament, and of the history of Israel, is one with 
that of Jesus; and that our Lord’s own thoughts as to 
the significance of Himself and of the part He was to 
play in the world’s future are to be found in Paul. 
But if so, the suggestion that Paul thrust in between 
man and God some conception of the means of salva- 
tion, of which Jesus never dreamed, becomes unthink- 
able. Whatever may be said of the development 

1 Rom, iy, 26, 






4 

. 
: 
3 


The Apostolic Witness 289 


of Paul’s thought on certain subjects, the thought 
that ‘He gave Himself for our sins,’ the knowledge 
that his life was being lived ‘in faith, the faith which 
is in the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself 
up for me,’ was from the first the very heart of his 
experience. This, he claims insistently, was in harmony 
with the teaching of Peter and the rest of the apostles. 
And we must add that if Jesus was what we have 
seen He claimed to be, some such interpretation of His 
work is inevitable. That Paul’s interpretation was 
one with that of Jesus is, to our mind, proved finally 
by his reference to the Lord’s Supper. Critical scepti- 
cism seems to reach its climax when it avers that this 
Sacrament as we know it comes from Paul and not 
from Jesus, that, as has been recently said, ‘The Lord’s 
Supper existed as a common meal before he became a 
Christian, but he gave it a new character”? But the 
examination of 1 Cor. xi. leads to a very different con- 
clusion. It would appear that the Corinthians had 
been boasting in their letter to Paul that they were 
holding fast what he had delivered to them? He 
replies that far from doing this, they had turned the 
sacred Supper into a disorderly feast. Then solemnly 
and earnestly declaring that the words come from the 
Lord Himself, he repeats what, as they well know, he 
has already delivered to them, the story of the first 


1 Gal. i. ii. 
2 McGiffert, ut supra, p, 11. 
# y, Dr, Findlay’s notes on this chapter, 


290 The Witness of Israel 





simple institution. It seems impossible that we have 
here the introduction of something new. No hint in 
the second epistle suggests that on this matter, at any 
rate, Paul’s authority was ever questioned. The un- 
varying usage of the Christian Church in later days 
shows that it never was. We have every reason to 
trust the deliberate statement of Paul that what he 
says is direct, historical truth, If so, Jesus in the 
presence of death declared that His blood, so soon to 
be shed, would seal the new covenant that was to take 
the place of all the older covenants between man and 
God. And that forgiveness promised long since through 
Jeremiah, who saw so clearly the need of this before 
any other covenant could avail, was to come through 
that precious bloodshedding. All that Paul teaches 
comes from this, All the wealth of praise that he 
brings as his tribute to his Lord springs from the 
consciousness that this forgiveness is a great reality. 
All that he says of Jesus in his later epistles finds its 
justification here. He knows that from One who has 
done this for him ‘neither death, nor life, nor height, 
nor depth’ can ever separate him. 

3. The next presentation of the work and signifi- 
cance of Jesus to be considered is that which meets us 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This epistle is, from 
many points of view, of priceless value. As Westcott 
reminds us, it was written at a time when it seemed 
that there was nothing for the Christian but either 
to cling to the letter of the Jewish Bible, or to reject it 


The Apostolic Witness 291 


altogether! In the present day, when anxious minds 
fear that the same alternative lies before them, it is 
strengthening to remember with what magnificent suc- 
cess the author of the epistle vindicated the essential 
value of the Old Testament. Such a thought encourages 
us to face without fear the results of all modern critical 
research, If these show us that God’s ways of mani- 
festation were even more manifold than our fathers 
dreamed, we need not be dismayed. But our present 
purpose is to show as before that there is an essential 
harmony between this writer and Jesus Himself as to 
the meaning of the past and the hope of the future. 

As to the meaning of Israel’s history there is no 
doubt in the writer’s mind. All along its course he 
heard the voices of the speakers for God, and at the 
end he heard God Himself speaking through His Son. 
With Jesus the new age dawned.? ‘The new revelation 
is a continuation of the old so far as God is the author 
of both. It is wholly new and separate in character so 
far as Christ is the Mediator of it.’? There is no need 
to do more than indicate in passing how exactly this 
corresponds to the teaching of Jesus of the blessedness 
of those who saw what kings and prophets looked for 
in vain. All the heroes of faith looked forward to that 
‘better thing’ * which every true Christian possesses. 

It is because of this that we find the same note of 
urgency, the sense of the final and irrevocable choice 


1 Commentary on Hebrews, p. 492, 2 Heb. i, passim, 
3 Westcott, op. cit. p. 7. 4 Heb, xi, 40, 


202 The Witness of Israel 





that man must make when brought face to face with 
Jesus. If that appeal is rejected, there is neither hope 
nor light. 

Following out of this we note the many forms under 
which Jesus is set forth as the Messiah. He is the 
Divine Son (i. 5); the Davidic King, in whom the 
ancient promise given through Nathan was fulfilled 
(i. 5-8); the King-Priest (i 13; x. 12); the Son of 
Man, ‘as true man fulfilling the destiny of man, and 
the destiny of fallen man through suffering’ (ui, 6-11); 
the representative prophet (ii. 13). Each one of these 
thoughts is, as we have seen, present in the teaching of 
Jesus. If He is not set forth here as Judge, the 
expectation of His return is never far away (ix. 28; 
x, 24-5). It did not fall within the scope of the 
epistle to speak of the effect of Christ’s return upon 
the unbelieving. 

When we put all these conceptions together, it is 
marvellous how they all blend in the One Person. 
The writer is familiar with the earthly life of Jesus, 
and delights to think of it. He refers to the temptation 
(ii. 18; iv. 15); the preaching of the gospel (ii. 3); the 
opposition of sinners (xii. 2); the gentleness of His 
bearing (v. 2); the agony in the garden (v. 7). Doubt- 
less these are only incidental proofs of a far more 
detailed knowledge. And yet he sets the Man who 
endured all this tragic humiliation at God’s right hand, 
and hails Him as Creator, Preserver, and Heir of all 
things (i, 2-3), Again, we note the closely knit unity 


The Apostolic Witness 293 


between the earthly life and the heavenly glory. One 
marked the road to the other. But there is no gap 
between Jesus and Christ any more than in Paul. 

In one important respect the epistle goes beyond 
the teaching of Paul. To Paul the primary aspect of 
the law was that of a burdensome discipline, necessary 
to convict man of his sin and moral helplessness, and 
so prepare him for the freedom of the gospel. This 
thought is not absent from the epistle, but the writer 
dwells more often on the immediate value of the law as 
providing, though imperfectly, for man’s approach to 
God, and so foreshadowing the complete access obtained 
through Christ. This completes the proof of the per- 
manent value of the Old Testament. And we may 
apply both to Paul and to this writer the words of 
Westcott— 


In regard to God, the whole history of the Bible is a 
revelation of the progress of the unchanging method of 
salvation through which creation is carried to its issue. In 
regard to man, it is a revelation of the necessity and the 
power of faith, by which he attains to a realization of the 
eternal and the unseen, through suffering and failure, in 
fellowship with the Christ.’ 


4, In passing to the writings that bear the name of 
John, it is happily no part of our present task to enter 
into the critical questions about these books. It is, 
however, probably right to say that the traditional 
view of the authorship of the Gospel and the Epistles, 

1 Hebrews, p, 481, _ 


294 The Witness of Israel 


or at any rate a view connecting them directly with the 
apostle John, can be more strongly defended to-day 
than ever before. Even as regards the Apocalypse, 
one of the most thoughtful of recent commentators 
says: ‘It seems most in accordance with all the facts 
to hold that the Apocalypse, as we have it, and the 
Fourth Gospel, come directly or indirectly from the 
same source. But for our present purpose we need 
-not press this. All that we desire to do is to show 
that these writings give to Jesus the same place in 
relation to both past and future as does the rest of the 
New Testament. 

Commencing with the Gospel and Epistles, which 
seem indubitably to come from the same hand, we note 
the attitude to the past history. The ministry of the 
Baptist is heralded with the same words as to the 
voice crying in the wilderness. The Scriptures bear 
witness to Jesus.? A true understanding of the teaching 
of Moses would lead to faith in Him The unbelief 
which had thwarted the work of the prophets finds its 
final and complete manifestation in the rejection of 
Jesus. Jesus is the Son of Man and Son of God, the 
long-looked-for Messiah who, in the consciousness of 
His own mission, declares that ‘salvation is from the 
Jews, and yet proclaims that because He has come all 
national distinctions are at an end, and that the true 


1 C, Anderson Scott, Revelation, Century Bible, p. 47. 
2 John y. 39. 

3 John y. 45-7. 

4 John xii, 38-41, 





The Apostolic Witness 295 


worshippers may now worship the Father in spirit and 
in truth.! This firm grasp of the historical position of 
Jesus is especially notable in one whose eye looks far 
back beyond the birth of time and sees ‘in the beginning’ 
the eternal Word with God Himself, and knows that 
‘the Word was God.’ 

It is, however, often stated that the true humanity 
of Jesus is so obscured in these writings as to be 
almost lost, and that an altogether supernatural and 
unearthly Person is represented. Thus Schmiedel 
writes— 

His baptism is not related because it seemed to interfere 
with His dignity ; so also His temptation in the wilderness, 


His prayer in Gethsemane, and His forsaken cry on the 
cross are passed over in silence.” 


But whatever may be the real explanation of the 
omissions of this Gospel, one is convinced that it is 
very different from this. It seems quite ‘plain that the 
baptism is directly referred to in the first epistle, in 
the words about Him who came through the water and 
through the blood.? There the writer is arguing with 
heretics, who recognized that Jesus ‘came by water ’— 
receiving the Messianic anointing at the baptism—but 
who denied that the divine Christ could have suffered 
on the cross, and so taught that this Christ had left the 
human body before its death of shame. But John will 
have none of this. To him, both the beginning and 


1 John iv, 21-6, 2 EH, Bi. col, 2529, 
3 1 John y, 6, 


296 The Witness of Israel 


the end of his Master’s ministry were marked by 
manifestations of His Messiahship. 


Under the sign of ‘the water’ he gathers up all the 
testimony to Jesus Christ, from man and from God, that 
attended His baptism ; under the sign of ‘the blood,’ all 
that centres in the cross. When he speaks of the Lord as 
‘coming through (traversing) water and blood,’ these are 
viewed historically as steps in His march of humiliation, 
suffering, and victory, as signal epochs in the continuous 
disclosure of Himself to men and crises in His past relations 
to the world; when he says ‘7m the water and im the 
blood,’ they are apprehended as abiding facts, each making 
its distinct and living appeal to our faith and together 
serving to mark out the ground upon which Christianity 
stands.’ 





The examination of this one instance shows the 
insecurity of Schmiedel’s reasoning. Moreover, if John 
omitted what seemed to him unworthy of the glorified 
Christ, one has to ask why he did not insert the story 
of the Transfiguration, which so enhances the glory. 

Schmiedel continues to argue that there are hardly 
any human traits in the Gospel.? It is surprising, 
however, to note how many of the suggestions as to 
the real humanity of Jesus that rise at once to the 
mind of an uncritical reader do come from this Gospel. 
One thinks of the tired and thirsty man by Jacob’s 
well;® of the poignant pathos of the question, ‘Would 

1 Dr. G. G. Findlay, Fellowship in the Life Eternal, p. 383. 


2 Thid. 2530. 
3 John iy. 6-7, 


The Apostolic Witness 297 


ye also go away?”! of the homely Jesus who loved 
Martha and her sister and Lazarus; of the tears by the 
graveside of His friend ; ? of the washing of the feet of 
the disciples ;3 of the disciple whom He loved who 
reclined on His bosom ;‘ of the care shown for His 
heartbroken mother as He hung on the cross;° of 
the cry, ‘I thirst’;® of the gentleness shown to the 
unbelieving Thomas ; ® of the fire and the food prepared 
for the disappointed fishermen.’ We believe that 
these are all recollections of an eye-witness. But how 
much our human portrait of Jesus would lose were all 
these taken away from it! 8 

Apart, however, from all these details, the purpose 
of the author is to show how Jesus came in the flesh. 
‘That which we have heard, that which we have seen 
with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands 
handled’? That looking back at the end of a long life 
he saw glory which his eyes had been too dim to perceive 
while he walked and talked with his Master in daily 
intercourse is undeniable. But John surely knew 
enough to understand that he would be destroying his 


1 John vi. 67. ? John xi. 5, 35. 
* John xiii. 5 fi. * John xiii. 23, 
5 John xix. 26-8. ® John xx. 27. 

7 John xxi. 9 fi. 


® Schmiedel’s suggestion that Jesus wept at the graveside not 
because He was sorry but because He was angry at being dishelieved 
has not much to commend it (E. Bi. col. 2530). But even if this is 
right, such anger seems very human indeed. Certainly it would not 
be a mark of some exalted Being who was above the reach of ordinary 
emotion. 

® 1 Johni, 1. 


298 The Witness of Israel 


own case by making the humanity of Jesus into an 


unreal abstraction. He had to do with men who wished 
to get rid as far as might be of the human Jesus, so as 
to exhibit the eternal Christ. Criticism to-day starts 


from the other end, and seeks rather to escape from the 


eternal Christ, so as to bring us face to face with the 
human Jesus. But John repudiates decisively both 
these methods and the words which unite the human 
and the divine—‘ These are written, that ye may 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’ *— 
express with the utmost plainness what his own 
answer is to such attempts. 

We have now to follow the place given in these 
writings to the Messianic conceptions we have pre- 


viously examined. As to the kingship claimed by — 


Jesus, the Gospel is quite explicit. Not only is the 
triumphal entry into Jerusalem recorded, and described 
as the act of the coming King, but the trial before 
Pilate brings out more clearly than any of the other 
accounts how needful the procurator felt it to be to 
inquire into the nature of this alleged kingship. The 
conversation among the people recorded in chapter 
vii. verses 40-4 reads like history ‘taken in the very 
act.’8 The writer assumes the knowledge which he and 
his readers possessed, that Jesus did really fulfil the 
prophecy of Micah which connected the Messiah with 
Bethlehem, and was the true Davidic King, but shows 


1 John xx, 31, 2 John xii, 12 f, 
3 Godet, 






The Apostolic Witness 299 


the ignorance of His opponents, whose argument against 
His claims was in reality an argument in His favour. 
At the same time the words of Jesus, ‘My kingdom is 
not of this world,’ show that here, as elsewhere, the 
kingship is in essence spiritual. 

A more difficult question is raised as to the use of 
the title, Son of Man. Schmiedel, indeed, asserts that 
in this gospel ‘judgement’ has a meaning not to be 
found in and inconsistent with the synoptists. It is 
not a future act, but a process accomplished in the 
present life. Dealing with passages such as chapter v. 
verses 25 ff, which quite clearly declare the other view, 
he can only suggest that they are glosses, or that old 
forms of expression have been maintained with new 
_ Meaning importedintothem. But, quite apart from the 
arbitrariness of such a course, we have the convincing 
evidence of the first epistle, that the judgement in the 
author’s mind, as surely in ours, is both present and 
future at once. That epistle is written under the 
influence of the solemnizing thought that the last hour 
has sounded, that Christ may be manifested at any 
moment, and that those who have such a hope set 
before them must purify themselves even as He is 
pure. 


The Apostle... felt no contradiction between the 
thought of Christ’s spiritual action upon mankind, with 
the gradual process of sifting effected thereby, and that 
of His eventual return in glory as the universal Judge 


1 John xyiii, 36, 


300 The Witness of Israel 






between this constant visiting and judging of the world — 
and that ultimate ‘manifestation’ and supreme ‘ crisis’ at 
the ‘consummation of the age’ which dominates the New 
Testament horizon generally. 


There is no need to dwell upon the further thought 
of the suffering Servant. It is this Gospel, as we have 
seen, which speaks of Jesus as the sin-bearing Lamb, 
That thought is worked out with marvellous richness 
in the epistle, where we read of the propitiation for the 
sins of the whole world, and see how that has its source 
in the eternal love of God. Once more we findall ~ 
these conceptions blended in that one Person, who 
‘became flesh and tabernacled amongst us.’ 

A few lines only can be added on the Apocalypse. 
Its writer frequently uses the human name Jesus; 
speaks of the twelve apostles (xxi. 14); mentions the 
crucifixion at Jerusalem (xi. 8), the resurrection 
(i. 5-18), the exaltation (iii 21), and has many echoes 
of the spoken words of Jesus. He knows and applies 
to Him the Messianic prophecies, and knows that He 
came from Judah. He is ‘the Root and Offspring of 
David,’ ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah.’ He manifests 
Himself to His servant in form ‘like unto a Son of 
Man,’ and is described in words which point back to 
the great passage in Daniel (i. 13 ff). He is coming 
again with the clouds, and when that awful judgement 
seat is set, it is ‘the throne of God and of the Lamb.’ 


1 Findlay, ut supra, p. 234, The whole of this fine piece of 
exposition should be studied. 


The Apostolic Witness 301 


All the future will be the revelation of His glory. And 
yet the highest note that is sounded in the heavenly 
anthems unites the earthly humiliation and shame 
with the eternal glory. ‘Worthy is the Lamb that 
hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and 
wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and bless- 
ing.” + In that grand triumphant chorus all created 
things unite, whilst ‘the worship that has been offered 
to Him that sits upon the throne, and that offered to 
the Lamb, flow together into one stream.’ 

If we wish to estimate the greatness of Jesus, we 
must ask again and again how it came to pass that 
men who held with passionate devotion the Jewish 
faith in monotheism, who had learnt to repeat daily 
from their childhood, ‘ Jehovah is our God, Jehovah 
is One, could place Him on the throne side by side 
with God Himself. If we believe with them that all 
Hebrew history was the preparation for His coming, 
and that when the time came God surpassed all the 
highest dreams of seer and prophet by speaking to the 
world in His own eternal Son, then we can join in 
their worship. But any thought that falls short of 
this leaves their faith unexplained and their inmost 
experience a delusion. 

1 Rey. v, 12, 


. CHAPTER III 
THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE 


Christianity the culmination of an age-long purpose—Its achieve- 
ments confirm this—Objections from the low state of Christian 


morality and experience, and from inability to meet the new 


calls at home and abroad—Answers: (a) The unlimited 
possibilities of Christian character. (b) Social evils can be 
remedied only by workers who are spiritually strong. (c) The 
Christian religion as revealed in history great enough for all 
demands—Need of a firm grasp of the meaning of history— 
Value of the Bible in giving this—Conclusion—The unwearied 
Christ—The hope of the final victory. 


E have now reached the goal that we set 
\ ‘ / before us at the outset, and can look back- 
wards over the ground that has been 
covered. If the arguments which have been considered 
are valid, it follows that the religion which we profess 
is not based upon uncertain reasonings that criticism 
can overthrow or new discoveries prove false. The 
claim of Christianity is that it is the culmination of 
an increasing purpose of God running through the ages. 
All through the centuries it shows God brooding over 
His children, bending down to meet them, and at last 
pouring out Himself in that immeasurable gift of Jesus, 
Hence it declares that that— 





The Hope of the Future 303 


Deepest craving of the human heart— 

That which drew Moses to the Mount of Fire, 

That which shook David on his couch of tears, 

That which upheld Dante to Paradise, 

That which saved Byron through the depths of sin— 

The unutterable thirst of man for God— 
may be satisfied in Him who proclaims, ‘If any man 
thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.’ As we ponder 
the way in which Jesus fulfilled the prophecies we 
say— 

It startles, it surprises us, it takes away our breath ; it 
is utterly unlike what we should have expected ; we could 
never have invented it. And yet the longer we look at it 
the more truly Godlike it appears. It is not what we 
thought God would be like if we could see Him, but it 
surpasses our inmost thought. Jt is too supernatural not to 
be true. 


When we look away from this wondrous story of 
love and atonement, and try to estimate what has 
sprung from it—the triumphs and achievements of the 
great Christian Society, the fragrance of the Christian 
character in its highest forms—our faith in the final 
victory is incalculably strengthened. 

Yet it cannot be denied that there are many gravely 
disquieting signs in the life of to-day. The experience 
and character of the average Christian are in strange 
disproportion to the greatness of the truths he professes 
to believe. One of the most notable of recent books 
asserts that ‘The striking contrast between the lives of 


1 Tllingworth, Reason and Revelation, pp. 151-2. (Italics ours.) 





304 The Witness of Israel 


Christians and the rules which they profess to accept 
is the great religious difficulty of the present day.’! 
Similarly it has been said that the indifferent layman 
does not believe in the reality of the Christian secret ; 
that is to say, he rejects as a mere fantasy the claim 
that the Christian believer has a real and vivid experi- 
ence of a personal God and Saviour in which he has no 
share. He does not see in the outward character and 
conduct of the Christian anything to suggest to him 
that such a claim has any real foundation. In itself 
this is not surprising, for spiritual vision alone can 
discern spiritual realities. But yet we remember that 
we follow One who compared His followers to the city 
on the hilltop with its walls flashing brightly in the 
sunshine, and know that there ought to be a self 
evidencing power of goodness in His Church, 

On the other hand, the magnitude of our social 
problems, so much vaster than any that Amos or Isaiah 
had to face, are leading many to turn impatiently from 
dogmatic religion and concentrate on humane and 
philanthropic effort. 

Meanwhile great masses of our fellow-countrymen 
are alienated from all the Churches, whilst attendance 
at public worship is declining. 

Yet at this very moment the great world outside 
presents opportunities for Christian enterprise never 
known before. The emergence of Japan as a first- 
rate power, the awakening of China, the unrest in 

1 Peile, The Reproach of the Gospel, p. 6, 


The Hope of the Future 305 


India and Persia, the re-creation of Turkey, the new 
spirit in Russia, are imperative calls to the Church 
to advance all along the line and to claim for its 
Lord, in a fuller sense than ever, the empire of the 
world. It is not within our scope to discuss with 
any completeness problems such as these. But we 
desire to show the answers suggested by the history 
which we have surveyed. 

(a) First, then, we can assert with confidence that 
if our claim as to God’s age-long purpose is admitted 
as true, then there are no limits to the possibilities of 
Christian character. If God has done so much for 
humanity He will not fail us now. That is the great 
argument of the New Testament. ‘He that spared 
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, 
how shall He not also with Him freely give us all 
things?’! It was because he believed this that Paul 
could pray for his converts, humble and obscure in 
origin as many of them were, and with their past lives 
stained with many vices, that they might be ‘filled 
unto all the fullness of God.’ ? 

For the same reason, because he grasped so firmly 
the historical fact that the eternal Life of God had 
been manifested in time—‘ That which we have seen 
with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands 
handled’ ’—John could not grant the admissibility of 
sin. Those who truly accept that revelation have a 

1 Rom, viii, 32, 2 Eph, iii. 19. 
31 Johni. 1, 
x 


306 The Witness of Israel 


power within them that makes selfishness and evil 
impossible; ‘he cannot sin, because he is begotten of 
God,’? 

Christian men and women need to drink in again 
and again the grandeur of these thoughts. We busy 
ourselves too much with details—the slow discourage- 
ment of our personal struggles to make ourselves 
better, the scanty harvests that reward our sowing— 
when we ought to be surrendering ourselves to the 
mighty energizing power of the Spirit of God, who 
is always working in our own hearts and in human 
nature everywhere. There are times when we must 
attend to details, patiently answering the objections 
of others and amending our own lives. But no one 
is fit to deal with details who has not first of all 
realized and yielded to the sweep and the glory of 
the Christian faith. The reverent study of the Old 
Testament will help us to do this more perfectly. 

(b) In the second place, we must hold fast to the 
truth that social regeneration not less than personal 
conversion can only be wrought by spiritual forces. 
We cannot feel too deeply the urgency of the call 
to social service. In the recent Report of the Royal 
Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 
there are abundant proofs how great the need is. The 
Commissioners say, in one of many striking passages— 


‘Land of Hope and Glory’ is a popular and patriotic 
lyric sung each year with rapture by thousands of voices. 


1 1 John iii, 9, 





The Hope of the Future 307 


. . « To certain classes of the community, into whose moral 
and material conditions it has been our duty to inquire, 
these words are a mockery and a falsehood. To many of 
them, possibly from their own failures and faults, there is 
in this life but little hope, and to many more ‘glory’ or 
its realization is an unknowa ideal. Our investigations 
prove the existence in our midst of a class whose condition 
and environment are a discredit and a peril to the whole 
community. . . . No country, however rich, can perma- 
nently hold its own in the race of international competi- 
tion if hampered by an increasing load of this dead weight ; 
or can successfully perform the réle of sovereignty beyond 
the seas if a portion of its own folk at home are sinking 
below the civilization and aspirations of its subject races 
abroad.? 


Every Christian citizen feels the burden and the shame 
of such words as these. 

But we repeat that the solution of such problems 
will not be found by those who turn away from the 
doctrines of Christianity, but by those who understand 
most perfectly what the Christian religion means. 
Micah declared long since, ‘I am full of power by the 
Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, to declare unto 
Jacob his transgression, and unto Israel his sin.’ We 
want men inspired by the same Spirit to do such work 
to-day. Whilst it is good to feel the noble zeal for 
civic righteousness that made the prophets such fearless 
preachers of the rights of the oppressed and the help- 
less, we must never forget that it was their faith in a 
kingdom which God Himself was pledged to establish 

1 Report, p. 644, § 173. 2 Micah iii, 8. 


308 The Witness of Israel 


that sustained them through their darkest hours of 
disappointment and of sorrow. Only those who are 
‘very sure of God,’ and whose faith rests on the con- 
viction that history is full of His working, will be able 
to work without discouragement and with the certainty 
of ultimate triumph. | 


And oh! when Nature sinks, as oft she may, 
Through long-lived pressure of obscure distress, 

Still to be strenuous for the bright reward, 
And in the soul admit of no decay, 

Brook no continuance of weak-mindedness— 
Great is the glory, for the strife is hard.? : 





The knowledge that God Himself is working in this 
strife, and the tracing out of His presence through all 4 
the centuries, bring the secret of persistence and the 
pledge of victory. 9 

(c) The same thoughts must guide us when we face | 
the unchurched multitudes at home or the non-Christian 
populations abroad. The real question that confronts 
us is whether we have sufficient stores of spiritual 
energy to give freely to others, and so to bring in 
Christ’s kingdom in our own generation. As we saw 
at the outset, the wealth of new knowledge has com- 
pelled the restatement of some of the grounds of our 
faith. Our methods of attack and motives for appeal 
are, in some important respects, differently conceived 
and expressed. But we have seen that the Witness of 
Israel, its ‘ half-enlightened, often-chequered trust,’ was 


1 Wordsworth, Sonnet to R, B, Haydon. 


The Hope of the Future 309 


borne to a great reality, and ended in the revelation of 
Jesus Christ the Son of God. Hence the fair prophetic 
vision of all the nations paying their glad homage to 
the universal Father is still able to attract and to hold 
us. What we need is that the littleness of our own 
narrow views should be lost as we make our own this 
great world-embracing purpose. The magnificent suc- 
cess of the World’s Student Christian Federation is 
a cheering sign that this grand conception of Christian 
duty and possibility is capturing the youth of our 
own day. But if this fair promise is to be realized, 
and Christ is to be enthroned amongst all peoples, we 
must hold fast to the truth that He is worthy to be 
the universal King, because in Him, as Paul declared, 
all things were summed up. Apart from this, no 
ethical teaching, however lofty, will avail. Nor can 
psychology, however ably it vindicates the rights of 
the religious consciousness, give to our sinful world a 
saving gospel. Itis good to find God in the conscience, 
and to hear in the depths of our nature the proclama- 
tion of His eternal law of righteousness. But the world 
craves One who has manifested Himself all through 
the history of the past, and is still ordering and con- 
trolling the movements of the nations. Such a God 
is revealed to us in the Bible. Even though at times 
we cannot trace His working, and have to say still, 
‘Thy way is in the sea, and Thy paths in the great 
waters, and Thy footsteps are not known,’ we can yet 
be sure that He has not left the world to itself. It is, 





310 The Witness of Israel 


perhaps, true that we need this reminder to-day more 
than ever before. The thought that it is possible to 
find a faith which is independent of history is attractive 
enough in its way, and seems to offer an escape from 
many perplexities. It is also true that much of what 
our fathers thought to be foundations has now been 
shown to be scaffolding only. The great building of 
God reveals its strength and beauty far more plainly 
now that this has been removed. But when all this 
has been admitted, we must still hold fast the convic- 
tion that history culminated in Jesus Christ, and that 
in God manifest in the flesh the innermost secret of 
the divine working was disclosed. To steep ourselves 
in the Old Testament is one of the surest ways of 
securing the invincible certainty that this is true. 
Only so can we look forward to the future without fear. 

The battle is not yet won. Stern trials may still 
await the followers of Jesus, testings of faith, anxious 
questionings, apparent failures. Yet we know that 
He who so long ago began the task of winning man- 
kind for Himself is not now ‘as a man astonied; as 
a mighty man that cannot save.’! The God whom 
Jeremiah in that wonderful passage calls ‘the Hope 
of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, 
is not ‘as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry 
for a night, ie. a mere passing visitor or traveller. 
The Bible history shows His constant presence with 
His people, so that ‘in all their affliction He was 


1 Jor, xiv. 9, 


The Hope of the Future 311 


afflicted.” He cannot fail nor be discouraged till He 
has set judgement in the earth. It is because the 
Bible assures us of this that it is still to us the Book 
of books, standing alone in its grandeur and its living 
witness. Most of all are we assured of this when we 
ponder the story of Jesus. He counted the cost when 
He emptied Himself and took on Himself the form 
of a servant, and did not come amongst us to be 
defeated. There is a noble passage in Mr. Short- 
house’s John Inglesant which describes a vision of the 
Christ— 


He came down the steps . . . and He came to me. 
He was not at all like the pictures of the saints; for He 
was pale, and worn, and thin, as though the fight was not 
yet half over—ah no!—but through this pale and worn 
look shone infinite power, and undying love, and unquench- 
able resolve. . . . As He spoke, a shudder and a trembling 
ran through the crowd, as if stirred by the breath of His 
voice. Nature seemed to rally and to grow beneath Him, 
and heaven to bend down to touch the earth. A healing 
sense of help and comfort, like the gentle dew, visited the 
weary heart. A great cry and shout rose from the crowd, 
and He passed on; but among ten thousand times ten 
thousand I should know Him, and amid the tumult of a 
universe I should hear the faintest whisper of His voice.’ 


That voice may still be heard, from the pages of 
the Bible, and in the secret place of man’s conscience 
and heart. Those who listen to it move forward 
undismayed, and look towards the time when— 


1 Chap, XxXxv. 


312 The Witness of Israel 


Earth breaks up, time drops away, 

In flows heaven, with its new day 

Of endless life, when He who trod, 

Very man and very God, 

This earth in weakness, shame, and pain, 
Dying the death whose signs remain 

Up yonder on the accursed tree— 

Shall come again, no more to be 

Of captivity the thrall, 

But the one God, All in all, 

King of kings, Lord of lords, 

As His servant John received the words, 
‘I died, and live for evermore.’ 


And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not; behold 
the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, 
hath overcome. 

And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four 
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb 
standing, as though it had been slain. 

And every created thing which is in the heaven, and 
on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and 
all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto Him 
that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the 
blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, 
for ever and ever. 


SUBJECT INDEX 


ABRAHAM, 21 ff. 
2% as Canaanite, 23 
, blessing of, g4 


Acton, Lord, xiii 

Alexander, the Great, 202, 212 fi. 

Amenophis IV. (Khuenaten), 
39-41 


Amos, 47, 50, 87, 90 ff. 
Antiochus the Great, 227 

Epiphanes, 227 fi, 
Apocalypse of John, 300 
Archaeo 


Asshurbanipal, 132 
Assyria, 101 ff. 
Astral deities, 9 
Aten, 

Athens, 193, 211 


BaByYtonta, 3-20 
Baentsch, 19 

Balaam, 85 

Benzinger, 70, 72, 77 
Beyschlag, 36 

Bousset, ix, 238, 260-1, 270 
Branch, the, 154 

Bunyan, 154 

Burkitt, 265 

Burney, 51-2, 54 


CarcHEmiIsH, battle of, 148, 150 
Chaeronea, battle of, 212 
Charles, 238 fi., 244 fi, 
Chasidim, 228 ft, 

Cheyne, 77, 97, 109, 113, 118 
Codes, the three, xii 

Comparative religion, ix 


| 


Cornill, 139, 154, 157, 220, 280 

Covenant, the new, 155 

eee historical, xi 
Curtiss, 63 

Cyrus, 171, 189 


DanrIz£L, book of, 230 ff. 

Darius, 190 

Dayid, 71, 85 

Davidson, 82, 116, 148, 150, 180, 
185, 202 

Day of Jehovah, 86, 136, 197, 287 

Deborah, 50, 60, 64 

Decalogue, 55-6 

Denney, 258, 269 

Deuteronomy, 120 ff., 144 

Driver, 35, 44, 129, 137, 141, 192, 
201, 231 

Duhm, 103, 111, 157, 181, 194 

Dwelling-places of J ehovah, 
49-50 


E — Elohistic Narrative), 47 i., 


Ecclesiastes, 223 
Ecclesiasticus, 224 

Edghill, 95, 180, 185 

Egypt, 37 fi. 

Elephantine, 206 

Enoch, book of, 238 ff., 248 ff. 
Ephod, 65 fi. 

Ezekiel, 159 fi, 

Ezra, 198 ff. 


Face of Jehovah, 74 

Fairweather, 238 

Findlay, 94, 145, 148, 214, 285, 
296, 299 


314 


GEzeER, 61 

Gideon, 69 

Giesebrecht, 157, 185 
Goodspeed, 3 

Gordon, 54 

Gray, 85 

Gressmann, 33, 182, 185 
Gunkel, 27 


HABAKKUE, 147 

Haggai, 190 
Hammurabi, 6, 25 ff., 72 
Harnack, 260-3, 267, 269 
Harper, H. A., 124 
Harper, W. R., 48 
Hebrews, Hpistle to, 290 ff, 
Holtzmann, 282 

Hort, 280 

Hosea, 71, 94 fi. 
Hume-Griffith, 161 
Hyksos, 38 

Hyrcanus, John, 242 fi. 


ILLINGWORTH, 303 
Image-worship, 538, 65 ff. 
Immanuel, 107 
Isaiah, 101 ff. 
9)  XXiv-xxvii, 208 fi. 
»  Xl-lv, 172 fi. 
»  lvi-lxvi, 193 ff, 


J, (The ms ehovistic Narrative), 
47 ff., 

Jashar, anil of, 50, 77 

J astrow, 6, 15, 20 

Jeremiah, 138 ff. 

Jeremias, xvii, 8, 11, 32, 55, 88 

Job, 221 

Johannine writings, the, 293 ff, 

John, the Baptist, 270 fi, 

Johns, C. W. H., 73 

Jonah, 220 

Joseph, 43-4 

Josiah, 142 ff. 


Kavurzscu, 57, 65 ff, 
Kennedy, A. S., 55 
Kennedy, H, A. A., 286 
Khuenaten, 40-1 

King, L. W., 6 n, 


Subject Index 


King, the Messianic, 99, 108, 
153, 184, 214, 251, 265, o78, 
299, 298 

Kittel, 30, 43, 86, 98, 108 

Kleinert, 112 

Knowling, 281-5 

Kuenen, 126 


LorrxHovss, 168 


Macanistmr, 72 
Maccabees, 229 ff. 
McCurdy, 39, 134, 175 
McGiffert, 281, 289 
Maine, 125 

Malachi, 196 

Manasseh, 117 fi. 

Manu, laws of, 125 
Marduk, 13 fi. 

Marti, xii, 42, 113 
Maspero, 88 
Melchizedek, 27 

Meyer, 88, 98 

Micah, the Levite, 68 ff. 
Micah, the Prophet, 112 
Monotheism, 8 ff., 19, 42 
Moore, 68 ff. 

Moses, 45 ff, 


NatHan, 85 
Nebuchadrezzar, 148, 170 
Nehemiah, 198 


OESTERLEY, 8, 88 
Orr, xvii, 120 ff., 231 


P (the priestly sections), 201 

Palestine, 58 ff. 

Patriarchal period, 21 ff, 

Paul, 280 ff. 

Peake, 118, 148, 176 ff. 

Peile, 304 

Penitential psalms, 15 ff. 

Peter, Christology of, 277 fi. 

Pharisees, 242 

Pinches, 14-15 

Prophecy, of the future, 82, 115 
93” , in other nations, 88, 

8 
Protevangelium, the, 83 





Subject Index 


Proverbs, book of, 222 
Psalms of Solomon, 250 
Ptolemy I, 213 


Q (Primitive Source of Gospels), 
262 


Ramsay, 63, 262, 283 
Remnant, 106 


Ryle, 250 


SADDUCEES, 242 

Samuel, 64 

Sanctuary, the central, 121 ff., 
207 


Sayce, 12, 27, 41, 

Schmiedel, O71, aT 279, 295, 297 

Schrader, 19 

Scott, C. ’A,, 294 

Scythians, 134 

Sellin, 56, 62, 181 

Semites, 5 

Servant of Jehovah, 175 fi., 
270 ff., 278, 288, 300 

Shiloh, 84, 165 

Shorthouse, 311 

Simon, the priest, 224, 241 

Sin, the moon-god, 12 

Skinner, 173, 179, 194 

Slave, manumission of, 73 

ae G. A., 28, 59, 97, 146, 191, 
197 


315 


Smith, W. R., 46, 71, 97 

Son of Man, 236, 248 fi., 267 ff., 
286, 292, 299 

Stade, 50, 168 

Sumerians, 4 

Supper, the Lord’s, 274, 289 


TAANACH, 62 

Tel-el-Amarna, 27, 38 

Temple of Solomon, 76 

Teraphim, 71 © 

Testaments of the XII, Patri- 
archs, 244 


Ur, 6, 30 


VINCENT, 60, 63 
Vischer, 281 
Volz, 109 


WELLHAUSEN, 22, 33, 66 
Wesley, vii 

Westcott, 231, 290, 293 
Winckler, xvi, 25 
Wordsworth, 308 

World ages, 10 

Wright, C. H. H., 231 


ZECHARIAH, 191 

ix-xiv, 213 fi. 
Zedekiah, 153, 165 
Zephaniah, 135 ff, 
Zerubbabel, 188 
Zodiac, 10 





INDEX OF PASSAGES 


I. OLD TESTAMENT 


Genesis. PAGE | Exodus. PAGE | Judges. PAGE 
1 + +. 208 | mex. 90. .- 74 | er 
H.15 . . . 83 | xxziv.20 . | 74 | vil =. | Gag) 


iv. 17 112 Vill... 27-2 Se 
v.2. . . . 26 | Leviticus. xvii, -.° «sR eda 
vi8 . . . 47 | xviiiig . . 33 5 . . 65,70 
Nu AY. say Evil. 4. eee = 
xi. 4, Ole ay ee Numbers. 14, it 18, 
wikig 2 1g | Sim. BS rE 
a. gq | SeHi-21 . . 85 1s. 1. } 
47. 112 i387 ee 66 
xiv. . . . 26 | Deuteronomy. i298 . . 6G;@ee 
xvii, . . 29,203 | v.18 . . . 55 | Gi “og 0) ° | 409 
xvil,19 . . 87 | vai. 7-8 5° | vii.9,47 . 5 ee 
BS. 5 AT | ad 59 | ix. 39° ee 
xxvi. 3 Aa Silas 121 | 3145 | Laon 
XXviii. 15 47 | xv. 17 - 73 | siy,3 11 eee 
xxix ~ a 32 ]] xyait, 18 131 . » eee 
mex 12). 47 | LS. 180 | 
34H. . 72) xu 19... 130 | a see 
xxxy. 11-12 . 203 | xxiv.4. . . 180) 6 ae 
xxxvili, . . 929 | xxv. 16 120 | yxi.9 7 eee 
xxxix. ff... AG. | RRVAG D eepeeeee 24 xxii, 18) aaee 
waz. 2. . 47 | x10, . OT | ee 
SRL VaI SG yu Sot ny Toy 9 Parone | 
xlix.10 . 84,165 | Joshua. xXxx.7. . 65,66 
ail a 27 : 1 
tices. 10°" 50 | 2 Samuel. 
xix, 2 . 252 XXxi. 43-4 . 59 Vi. 14 See 67 
16-22 34 XX1y. 2 ff 24 Vii. = 85 
AXING 5, ae eS xv. 7-12. . 121 
xxv. 7, &e. 65 | Judges. 


xxviii. 29, 30,38 68 | i, 21,27,29,&c. 60 | 1 Kings. f 
S31. . Wi]y4. . ... 50} ii,25 Jen 


2 Chronicles. 
xxxili, 11-13 . 


Ezra. 
vii.-x. . 


Nehemiah. 
i. 1-4 
li-vy. . 
viii. 10. 


Ropes) 
xiii. 6-31 . 
A. oe 
Psalms. 
cries fet fe 
exix. 45,104 . 
GkxxIx . 5 
exlviii.8 . 


Proverbs. 


Vili. . . . 
ix, 10 . 
xxiv. 20-21 


Ecclesiastes 


Index of Passages 


PAGE 


122 
77 


95 
76 
76 
118 
118 
144 
72 
181 
181 


118 


198 


Isaiah. PAGE 
vy. 27-29 . 104 
vi. 3 102 
Vilioge hes 107 
viii. 9-10 . . 108 
i SS 1B, IBS 
x. 5, &, 105 
Kies: (sis Awe 
1-9 108 
pak Oe aa 172 
19 ff. 172 
xiv. eee 172 
16-17 . 173 
xviii. 1 ff. . 111 
a 166 
Xxiv.—xxvil 208 
SEVE ES 5 209 
xxvi. 19 209 
xxx, 19-21 107 
22 65 

27 fi. al i 
SEX. 106 
xxxii, 1-2 110 
14 106 
xxxili. 14, &c 107 
Xxxvil. 29 4) 805 
xl-ly. 172, 194, 
208, 216 

xl, 15-16 . 271 
xli.1 173 
xi, (= 271 
© ff. 179 

14 175, 183 
18-25. 183 
xliii. 22, &c. 183 
27-28 178 

xliv. 28-29 . 173 
xly.1-6,13-14 173 
DOS de oe EAs 
xlix. 1 ff. . 180, 183 
1-6 175 

BGs oka eG kek 

1,4 fi. . 180, 183 
BQN 3 175 
Lio ea 971 
Virsa iis, ae 180 
lii. 13-liii. 12 . 175 
lili, . 179, 180, 181, 
271, 273,279, 

288 





317 

Isaiah. PAGE 

1 rite Ram eee ee 

8 . . 177-178 

liye. - 184 

lvi. 7 5, ine SOE 

lvi-lxvi . 193, 196 

kya. > = PAL 

Ix. 18-19 195 
[5 Fa eee pee A! 

Ixi. =) SD AES 

5, &e. 195 

Teas 271 

Ixiii. 1-6, 7 ff 195 

Exyits 195 

Jeremiah. 

10% 72 156 
11-12 13S 
Te hioe 140 

ivi. 140 

eo ae 162 

es ee 141 

iv. 2, 19-21, 25- 

25 Pee 22! 

Vertcnnce. = 142 
BT Ch. 179 

vi. 11, 29-30 . 142 

ix. Cee 179 

xiv. 9 310 

xve 16). 161 

Xvi. 19-20 . 157 

xviii. 151 

SExS ct 152 

be cy 142 

oO 161 
xxii. 24-30 181 
aan” 7 153 

Be 191 
5-6 154 
xxy. 10-11. 152 
15 ff. 3.) 158 

Sacvltng et lee 152 

KVET 152 

oan Ber 153 

xxxi, 31-34 155 

xxxili, 15 191 

Lamentations. 

EVe 20 ear 153 


318 

Ezekiel, PAGE 
MOUS es eet OE 
x. 18, &e. .  . 164 
xi.17-20 . . 164 
VIS: fe oe ee akoe 
Xvii. 22, 23-24 165 


xx. 9-14, &c. . 163 
xegat “ye hose 


Dh. Meteo 
xxiii. 14-15 170 
XXV.-xxxii, 164 
XXxlii, 32 . 169 
xxxiy. 16° 5.) 269 

25) ioe woe 
xxxvi. 20, &c.. 164 
35, &c.. 166 
xxxvli. 1-14 166 
24,&c. 165 
xxxviii. 16,39. 166 
xxxix. 21-93 167 
xliii, 3-4 . 167 
xliv. 1-3 2 168 
10, 16 167 
shy. Li. < 168 
xlvi. 16-18 168 
xiv DH, 6 d6F 
xlviii. 11,35 . 167 
Daniel. 
i, 13 ff... - 300 
iiss 232, 235 
Vil.’ - 232, 235 

27 . 236 

viii. 232 


232 
25'ff, pei t« (282 


xi. . 231 
31 233 
Selves) 231 
2, 11-12 233 


Hosea. 

R415. ee oo 

Me ae oe cea ues 
SMa aa vee hal 

ht ame Rane teak IE 

Wi Sai nae sk oe 

5 G00 ae Nae ay Sane ef 
Giro 


Hosea, PAGE 
ix, 10. °°, alee 
xi.1,3. 163 
xiii, 16. ‘Oe 
> di Pee 96, 97 
oa 
ii. « aes 
ae . 278 
Amos. 
Eaysie ae 
ii. 92 
iii, 2 ey et 
iv. 4-5 91 
13 92 
Meas xs 92 
10-11 ee 
18 87 
25 162 
vii. 7-9. 92 
eo wie 50 
7, &. 92 
8-15 93 
Jonah ing 226 
Micah. 
ii.-ili. . 112 
iii, 8 . ‘ 112, pat! 
13 113 
TVs ta he lil 
14. 113 
iv.-v. . 113 
v. 2-9 . 114 
uit - 166 
vi. 6-8 113 
8 119 
Vi.-vii «AS 
VT oe eg ee 
Nahum. 
5 alo, eer, me aeeO 
iii, 1-3. . . 146 
Habakkuk, 
PiG-9 "Oy oe aS 
DS ie ete Praeairag 3 52) 


Index of Passages 


Habakkuk. 

i, 1-2 Se 
re ee 

iit,.” Se eee 


Zephaniah, 


i 1,143 2238 
4-6, 15-16, 18 
fi. 9-45) “aes 


"9, 12-17, 15, 
16-17, isfi. 


Haggai. 
12 Bee reaee 


Zechariah. 

1, 13, 16 fo 
isvill, sate 
ii, 4-5 . e 
iii. 4 ff., 8. ‘ 
ies 2 aay 
vi. - 
viii. ‘4 fi, 20 « 
ix. 1-8, 3, 11 


AS ea 

8, 13, 14-15 
xii. 10 fy cnere 
xiii, eee 
1-6.. “529% 

7-9 . 
xiv, 2, 4 ff. * 


Malachi. 
i, 6-8" ee 
11 
ii. 4 fi, ‘Lo me * 
iii, 1 fi. aie 
16 ft. ae 
iv, 1-2,5-6 . 





Index of Passages 


St. Matthew. PAGE 
Vil. 22,23. . 287 
tess | Se 6D 
xiii, 16-17. . 262 
Wit. s 2OT 
xxiii. 31-39 264 
xxv. 31-46 273, 287 
exyl, 24°. . 273 
St. Luke. 
vii. 28 . 263 
x. 23-24 263 
xi. 49-51 264 
xiii, 31-35 . 264 
xxiv. 27 276 
St. John. 
Foes hs 271 
iv. 6-7. 296 
21-26 295 
v. 25 ff. 299 
3) . 294 
45-47 294 
WiOw 297 
vii. 40-44 298 
xi. 5, 35 297 
xii, 12 ff 298 
38-41 294 
xiii. 5 ff., 23 297 
xviii. 36 299 
xix. 26-28 297 
mx, OF . 297 
31 298 
xxi. 9 ff 297 


Romans. 
ee 
Sin 
iii, 21 
iv. 25 


1 Corinthians. 
ise 100 oR 


5a 


2 Corinthians, 
vy. 10 
ml Btn aan 


Galatians. 
PSF a ae 
RVG Ah we isa 


Il. NEW TESTAMENT 
PAGE 


286 
286 


289 
284 


Ill, APOCRYPHA AND OTHER BOOKS 


Ecclesiasticus. 

iv. 11 225 
xxxyi. 10, 11- 

1 ages 225 
xxxix. 1-5 224 
xlix. 10 224 
( Siig 224 


1 Maccabees, 


an 
He 
[come en) 
sees e 


iv. 52-53 - 
y. 21-46, &e, . 


241 


319 
Ephesians. PAGH 
1, 19%, 305 
1 Thessalonians. 
116 wine <5) SoG 
iy. 16 286 
2 Thessalonians. 
HIT, DP wheter) sn ees 
Hebrews. 
BS etiaiieee len pean 

2-8, 5, 5-8, 

Tis 292 
ii. 3, 6-11, 13, 

a ee 292 
iv..15° . 292 
Ay Ae 292 
ix, 28 . 292 
x. 12, 24-25 292 
xi. 40. 291 
xii, 2 . 292 
1 John. 

vi lige 297, 305 
iii. 9 - 3806 
VW. Gi . 295 
Revelation. 

i. 5-18 . 300 
ha ee es 300 
vy. 12 301 
xi, 8 |. 300 
mx, 4. 300 
1 Maccabees, 

vi. 60 241 
> ns eee a! 
Sivi4i. A ae 
Book of Enoch. 

Fe ee 238 


wre ch es Oe 4: eS ee ae B Ce aL 


320 Index of Passages 






Book of Enoch. pace ) Bookof Enoch. PAGE 
xxxviilkex, . 248 | Ixii. 11-12. . 248 
xlv.3,4-5. . 249 | Ixix.07 . . 249 
zlviel. =. 249 27-8 . . 268 
8. . . 248 | lxxxiii-xc. . 288 
slvil, 1-3) .5 5 248) | Ixxxy3 4 5 O40 
xlviilii 1 . . 249 | xc. 9,18,19-26 239 
Bos te 248 33, 36,37 . 240 

Stix es) 24804 





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